Citigroup Inc. Has $13.72 Million Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 155.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 236,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,586 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.17% of Lamb Weston worth $13,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 11.5% during the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,633 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 5,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 791,947 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $41,062,000 after purchasing an additional 68,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of LW stock opened at $48.19 on Friday. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $39.79 and a 12-month high of $67.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.12 and its 200 day moving average is $54.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 0.45.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. 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 was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 54.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In related news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Profile

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.