Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 82,402 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 584,623 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 82,402 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.41% of Lamb Weston worth $39,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,646,887 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,112,511,000 after purchasing an additional 58,066 shares during the period. JANA Partners Management LP grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 7,131,339 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $476,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,585 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth about $423,270,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,436,604 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $229,065,000 after buying an additional 48,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $69.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.91.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of LW stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, reaching $51.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,072,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,645,101. 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 $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.00 and a 200-day moving average of $62.05. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $89.51.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 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 company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Lamb Weston's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is presently 58.04%.

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.