Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $1.44 Million in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 26,934 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,646,887 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,112,511,000 after buying an additional 58,066 shares in the last quarter. JANA Partners Management LP grew its position in Lamb Weston by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 7,131,339 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $476,587,000 after buying an additional 1,302,585 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,270,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $229,065,000 after buying an additional 48,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,226,695 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $215,640,000 after purchasing an additional 187,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.73.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW stock traded up $1.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,770,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,870,987. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.00 and a 200 day moving average of $54.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.46. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $47.87 and a fifty-two week high of $83.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is 58.04%.

Lamb Weston 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.