Insider Buying: Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Acquires 3,000 Shares of Stock

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.74. 2,028,659 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,537,919. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $110.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.98.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $129,480,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,883,000. TPG GP A LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 74.4% during the 2nd quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,924,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 78.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,888,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,790,000 after acquiring an additional 830,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LW shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.