Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Lowers Stock Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lessened its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 345,726 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 247,131 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $23,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:LW opened at $51.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.28 and a 1-year high of $107.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The firm’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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LW. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.73.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

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

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.