Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 59.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 545,865 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 785,322 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.38% of Lamb Weston worth $36,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LW. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $275,000. Okabena Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $685,000. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $162,000. Finally, Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut shares of Lamb Weston from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.09.

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Lamb Weston Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Lamb Weston stock traded down $1.28 on Thursday, hitting $53.98. The stock had a trading volume of 312,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,713,835. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.55 and a 200 day moving average of $65.18. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.90 and a twelve month high of $89.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.