Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Invests $220,000 in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,131 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LW. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 166,384 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,119,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 14,559 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth approximately $556,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Lamb Weston by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 33,263 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 7,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,932,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $69.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.08. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $84.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 27.25%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.