Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Stock Position Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,243,560 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 13,960 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.88% of Lamb Weston worth $66,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 23.0% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 723,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $38,547,000 after purchasing an additional 135,188 shares during the period. Atlas FRM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $20,383,000. Soviero Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $3,342,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $823,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the first quarter worth $1,059,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $54.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock's 50-day moving average is $53.65 and its 200-day moving average is $53.91. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 5.54%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Lamb Weston's dividend 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.

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