Atria Investments Inc Buys 227 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $129,480,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,883,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,382,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $402,791,000 after purchasing an additional 549,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.73.

Insider Activity

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

Lamb Weston Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.47. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

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.