Lamb Weston $LW Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group boosted its position to 16,679,203 shares—about 12.01% of Lamb Weston—adding 43,766 shares for a holding valued near $698.7 million.
• Multiple brokers recently trimmed price targets and ratings, and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Hold with a $48.00 target after the mixed analyst actions.
• Lamb Weston topped quarterly EPS estimates ($0.72 vs. $0.61), posted modest revenue growth, and announced a $0.38 quarterly dividend (3.5% yield) payable June 5 with an ex-dividend/record date in early May.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 43,766 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.01% of Lamb Weston worth $698,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,549 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 2,341 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,387 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,264 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. A&I Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. A&I Financial Services LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $118,768,000 after buying an additional 2,828,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LW. Zacks Research raised Lamb Weston from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Lamb Weston from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. This represents a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders bought 441,000 shares of company stock worth $18,703,290. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $43.93 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Lamb Weston's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is 71.03%.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company's portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world's largest producers of frozen potato products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.