Eagle Ridge Investment Management Takes $200,000 Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 57.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,499 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,564,000 after buying an additional 11,138 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth $1,106,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,988 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 38,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,473,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 29,267 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,895,000 after buying an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LW stock opened at $59.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.88 and a 200-day moving average of $67.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

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.