Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Raises Stock Position in Lamb Weston $LW

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 288.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,006 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 129,159 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.13% of Lamb Weston worth $7,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth approximately $125,662,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $411,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,874 shares during the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $84,379,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 350.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,451,954 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $61,360,000 after buying an additional 1,129,918 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $53.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.54.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LW shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.36.

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.