Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 34.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 262,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 140,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Lamb Weston worth $13,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of LW. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,243,560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $66,282,000 after purchasing an additional 13,960 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 1st quarter valued at $199,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,072,932 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $909,987,000 after acquiring an additional 426,045 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 52,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 58,017 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 6,548 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LW shares. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price objective on Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.40.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $54.83 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.91. The stock has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $47.87 and a 12 month high of $83.98.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.