Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,842,751 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 241,848 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $199,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 113.4% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 864.0% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,294 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 537.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Lamb Weston stock traded up $1.27 on Wednesday, reaching $88.50. 496,167 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,201,410. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.41 and a 1-year high of $117.38. The company has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.13.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 50.74% and a net margin of 16.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on LW shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, March 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.40.

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.