Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Lamb Weston $LW

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 61,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 380.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 721 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 121.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LW. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of LW opened at $45.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day moving average is $44.66.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 71.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company 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.