California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,673 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 16,100 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.13% of Lamb Weston worth $11,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,177 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 10.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,064 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth about $282,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 9.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 322,856 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $20,901,000 after buying an additional 28,284 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $290,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on LW shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.09.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $53.94. 312,017 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,713,815. The company has a market cap of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $89.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.55 and a 200 day moving average of $65.18.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.