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

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 24,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Lamb Weston worth $26,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at about $129,480,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618,570 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at about $86,883,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at about $38,382,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 9.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $402,791,000 after acquiring an additional 549,812 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 5.3 %

LW opened at $53.67 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $107.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.00 and its 200 day moving average is $66.45. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.