Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $68.25 Million Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC decreased its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,021,180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 88,195 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $68,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth $129,480,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $86,883,000. TPG GP A LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 74.4% during the second quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,924,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,869,000 after buying an additional 1,247,206 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 78.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,888,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,790,000 after buying an additional 830,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,369,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,387. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.26 and its 200-day moving average is $70.64. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.99 and a 52 week high of $110.61. The firm has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.73.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

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.