Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,072,932 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 426,045 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Lamb Weston worth $909,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth about $19,802,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,222 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 2,237 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,494 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in Lamb Weston by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 68,864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,602,000 after acquiring an additional 34,079 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 23,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LW shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on Lamb Weston and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.2%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $51.65 on Tuesday. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $47.87 and a 1-year high of $83.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.97.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for 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%. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.96%.

Lamb Weston 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.