Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 743 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 743 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,933 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,316,000 after purchasing an additional 14,417 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 537.1% during the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,837 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $951,000. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC bought a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LW shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, March 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $128.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.40.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of LW opened at $83.73 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.72. The company has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.41 and a 1-year high of $117.38.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 50.74% and a net margin of 16.71%. The company’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 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 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.23%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.