American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,293 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 12,812 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $3,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LW. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,223 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,649 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,255 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,901 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LW. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.27.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LW traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $54.62. 2,206,966 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,702,041. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $89.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average is $54.33 and its 200 day moving average is $65.04.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.04%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.