Lamb Weston $LW Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,433 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 527 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Lamb Weston by 49.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,500,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,877,000 after buying an additional 1,483,559 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Lamb Weston by 324.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,126,982 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,068,000 after buying an additional 861,417 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Lamb Weston by 25.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,055,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,180,000 after buying an additional 829,207 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Lamb Weston by 49.8% during the first quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,016,142 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $107,460,000 after buying an additional 670,611 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 21.1% in the first quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,721,559 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $198,359,000 after purchasing an additional 648,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW opened at $65.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.96. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $47.87 and a 12-month high of $83.98.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 28.08%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cfra Research raised Lamb Weston to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $65.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.70.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.