American Century Companies Inc. Increases Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 155.7%, owning 131,165 shares valued at approximately $6.99 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their holdings, with Citigroup Inc. leading with a 324.4% increase in shares.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Lamb Weston, with three analysts giving it a "Buy" rating while the consensus target price is set at $65.30.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 155.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,165 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 79,872 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.09% of Lamb Weston worth $6,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 324.4% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,126,982 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $60,068,000 after buying an additional 861,417 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,055,902 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $216,180,000 after buying an additional 829,207 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,752,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,072,932 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $909,987,000 after buying an additional 426,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 214.5% in the 4th quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 519,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,685,000 after buying an additional 354,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LW. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.30.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW opened at $56.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.49. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $47.87 and a fifty-two week high of $83.98. The company's 50-day moving average price is $53.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 27.99%. Lamb Weston's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston 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, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is 58.96%.

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.

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