Lamb Weston $LW Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,078,791 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 310,220 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $87,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LW shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE LW opened at $45.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $43.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.49. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Lamb Weston’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 136,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $40.89 per share, with a total value of $5,561,040.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,148,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.