CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 9,628 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 59.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,456 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,628 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. City State Bank boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 18,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,592 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,611.50. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW opened at $59.14 on Wednesday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.99 and a 12-month high of $107.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.78. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Lamb Weston Profile

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.