Lamb Weston Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LW)

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 31,574 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 301% compared to the average volume of 7,866 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 4.8 %

LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter worth $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 156,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 45,904 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth $6,474,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Company 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.