Magnolia Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Lamb Weston $LW

Key Points

• Magnolia Group LLC disclosed a new stake in Lamb Weston, buying 212,500 shares worth about $8.9 million. The holding represents roughly 1.5% of Magnolia’s portfolio and about 0.15% of Lamb Weston’s shares.
• Wall Street sentiment is cautious: analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Hold” on LW, with a consensus price target of $48.00. Several firms have recently trimmed targets, and ratings are mixed between Buy, Hold, and Sell.
• Lamb Weston beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.72 versus the $0.61 consensus and revenue of $1.56 billion versus $1.49 billion expected. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, implying a 3.6% annualized yield.

Magnolia Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 212,500 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $8,902,000. Lamb Weston makes up 1.5% of Magnolia Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Magnolia Group LLC owned about 0.15% of Lamb Weston as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $42.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is 71.03%.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at $233,181,946.20. This represents a 0.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Lamb Weston 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.

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