Lamb Weston $LW Shares Purchased by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,808 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% during the third 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. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 17.7% during the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 7.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 4,324 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at $233,181,946.20. This represents a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $43.67 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $42.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.45. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $37.62 and a 52-week high of $67.07.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

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.