Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,337,763 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,262 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.94% of Lamb Weston worth $89,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,736,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,330,000 after purchasing an additional 735,901 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Lamb Weston by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $402,791,000 after purchasing an additional 549,812 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 697.4% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 350,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,408,000 after buying an additional 306,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $19,822,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $59.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.57. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $89.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.09.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were acquired 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 approximately $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.