Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 607,947 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 258,188 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.43% of Lamb Weston worth $40,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth about $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 156,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $10,457,000 after buying an additional 45,904 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $82,174,000 after acquiring an additional 16,092 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.1 %

LW stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,458,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,679,433. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $89.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.72.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is currently 58.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.27.

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.