Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 3,657 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,614 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,657 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $96,736,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,330,000 after buying an additional 735,901 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 697.4% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 350,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $23,408,000 after acquiring an additional 306,343 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,802,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 97.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 588,027 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,298,000 after acquiring an additional 290,901 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.27.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $55.98 on Tuesday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $89.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.95. The firm has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. 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 (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 58.04%.

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.