Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 517 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LW. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 250.0% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,341 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,208 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 58,749 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,803,000 after buying an additional 16,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,719 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE LW opened at $57.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

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.