Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Sells 8,198 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 8,198 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $3,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 35,064 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,802,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,932,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,255 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2,050.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 4.8 %

NYSE:LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $57.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.47. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.