First National Advisers LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,511 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $3,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 165,953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,221 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 344,106 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 98.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 12,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LW. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 4.8 %

NYSE LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $107.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its 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 the consensus estimate 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 was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase 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 was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.