New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 4,874 Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,659 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,874 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Lamb Weston worth $6,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $423,270,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $96,736,000. JANA Partners Management LP grew its position in Lamb Weston by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 7,131,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $476,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,302,585 shares in the last quarter. Continental Grain Co. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,786,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake 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 buying an additional 735,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.73.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $53.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.46. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $83.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.70.

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

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.