Prudent Man Advisors LLC Sells 570 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,703 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 570 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LW. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LW. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of LW stock opened at $51.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.16. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.28 and a 1 year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results 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). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

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.