Swedbank AB Boosts Stake in Lamb Weston $LW

Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 914,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17,165 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.66% of Lamb Weston worth $38,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LW. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Lamb Weston by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders acquired 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LW. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $43.67 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $37.62 and a 12-month high of $67.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.34.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.03%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.