Baird Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642,508 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 118,162 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Lamb Weston worth $42,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth about $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its position in Lamb Weston by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 156,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 45,904 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $82,174,000 after buying an additional 16,092 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on LW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.64.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 1.3 %

LW stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $50.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,209,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,649,848. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $89.51. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Lamb Weston's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.04%.

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.