Lamb Weston $LW Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

London Co. of Virginia reduced its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,389,011 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 101,342 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $138,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $400,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 444,328 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth $1,611,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 212,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Lamb Weston by 46.3% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,872,000 after buying an additional 680,000 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 1.7%

LW opened at $39.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.29. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $39.69 and a 1-year high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LW shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 target price on Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, 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 the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.