Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases Shares of 7,100 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its stake 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 worth $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 45,904 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $82,174,000 after purchasing an additional 16,092 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.84. 1,407,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,656,304. 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 one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $89.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $53.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.76.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is presently 58.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LW. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Lamb Weston from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.64.

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.