CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 6,838 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC cut its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 72.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 6,838 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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. State Street Corp grew its position in Lamb Weston by 9.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,330,000 after buying an additional 735,901 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,388,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $218,598,000 after buying an additional 24,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth about $96,736,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LW. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $59.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.22 and its 200-day moving average is $65.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $89.51.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

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.