American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in Lamb Weston $LW

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 67.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,944 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.19% of Lamb Weston worth $15,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LW. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 42,039 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 549 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 valued at $47,322,000 after buying an additional 207,210 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 519.9% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 843 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 12,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 4,318 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW opened at $44.49 on Wednesday. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.72.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 54.68%.

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.