First National Trust Co Trims Stock Position in Lamb Weston $LW

First National Trust Co lowered its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 79.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,577 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 25,268 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the second quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 86.1% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 960,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,859,000 after buying an additional 444,328 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 29.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 912,668 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,322,000 after acquiring an additional 207,210 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth $1,611,000. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.9% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,279,345 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $74,304,000 after acquiring an additional 212,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 0.6%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $50.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $39.79 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 6.06%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 54.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LW. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 target price on Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.