Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 296,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $19,802,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,223 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,901 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $50.98 on Monday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays reduced 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Insider Transactions 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 cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,611.50. This trade represents 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.

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.