Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 36.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 367 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $33,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3,466.7% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:LW opened at $51.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $47.87 and a fifty-two week high of $83.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 5.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 58.96%.

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.