Avanza Fonder AB Acquires Shares of 13,869 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 13,869 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $927,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $129,480,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 108.7% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at $86,883,000. TPG GP A LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 74.4% in the second quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,924,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $245,869,000 after buying an additional 1,247,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 78.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,888,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,790,000 after buying an additional 830,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $60.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.29 and a 200-day moving average of $69.32. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $110.61.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 56.92%.

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.