Continental Grain Co. Purchases New Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Continental Grain Co. bought a new position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 954,452 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $63,786,000. Lamb Weston accounts for 21.8% of Continental Grain Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Continental Grain Co. owned approximately 0.67% of Lamb Weston at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at $63,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 52.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,089 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 12,010 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 4,075 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 2.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 165,953 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.27.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 0.3 %

LW traded down $0.15 on Wednesday, reaching $52.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 578,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,669,498. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $89.51. The business's 50 day moving average is $53.66 and its 200 day moving average is $64.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.04%.

Lamb Weston Profile

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.