Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 14,467 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,724 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 14,467 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $4,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,646,887 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,112,511,000 after acquiring an additional 58,066 shares in the last quarter. JANA Partners Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 7,131,339 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $476,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,585 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,270,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $232,330,000 after acquiring an additional 735,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,436,604 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $229,065,000 after acquiring an additional 48,548 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on Lamb Weston and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $69.00 to $61.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.91.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of LW traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.86. 2,842,768 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,656,540. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $88.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.75. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.46.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is 58.04%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.