Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Shares Sold by Inspire Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Lamb Weston by 57.0% in the first quarter, holding shares now worth approximately $210,000 after selling over 5,000 shares.
• Lamb Weston recently reported $0.87 earnings per share, exceeding consensus estimates, and had a revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, increasing 4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.49%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 1st.

Inspire Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,948 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 5,243 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LW. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Lamb Weston by 7.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,097 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Lamb Weston by 838.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 29,671 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,581,000 after buying an additional 26,510 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Lamb Weston by 15.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 66,536 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 8,959 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC increased its position in Lamb Weston by 69.1% during the first quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 14,072 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 5,749 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Lamb Weston by 9.0% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LW. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW traded down $1.69 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.01. 2,605,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,858,852. The business's 50 day moving average price is $53.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.46. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $47.87 and a 1 year high of $83.98.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 5.54%. Lamb Weston's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is presently 58.96%.

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.