Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 16,809 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,203 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 16,809 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Lamb Weston worth $5,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,646,887 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,112,511,000 after acquiring an additional 58,066 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 167,752 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $11,211,000 after purchasing an additional 34,827 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at $6,823,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 116,036 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 10,855 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 51,293 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 12,812 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Lamb Weston from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.09.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE LW traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.11. 5,115,775 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,767,775. 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 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $89.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.57. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

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.