CX Institutional Acquires Shares of 905 Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $423,270,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $96,736,000. JANA Partners Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 7,131,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $476,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,585 shares during the period. Continental Grain Co. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $63,786,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the fourth 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. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LW shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.91.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $53.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.96. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $87.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.25% and a net margin of 5.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 58.04%.

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.