Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,203 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 16,809 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Lamb Weston worth $5,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered 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. Barclays decreased 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $73.55.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased 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 $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LW traded up $5.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.49. The company had a trading volume of 6,276,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,701. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.65. 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 fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $89.51.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. Lamb Weston's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders 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 2.49%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

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.