Swiss National Bank Sells 24,600 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 402,800 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 24,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Lamb Weston worth $26,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,223 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $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 worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Lamb Weston by 3.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,901 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

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Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.8 %

LW traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.16. 4,602,492 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,736,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.20. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm's revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LW. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $76.73.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.