Lamb Weston Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:LW)

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 67,997 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,307% compared to the average volume of 4,834 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW traded up $2.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.87. 3,561,525 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,003,690. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.43. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $47.87 and a 52-week high of $83.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.46.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 27.99%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The company'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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is 58.96%.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LW. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 116,036 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 10,855 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 23.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 723,215 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $38,547,000 after purchasing an additional 135,188 shares during the last quarter. Atlas FRM LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,383,000. Soviero Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,342,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.