South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stock Position in Lamb Weston $LW

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 12.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 95,981 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $4,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arnhold LLC boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 710.2% during the fourth quarter. Arnhold LLC now owns 38,217 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 33,500 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 89,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,770,000 after buying an additional 27,835 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 349.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 690,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,180,000 after buying an additional 536,745 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,264,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,071,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Lamb Weston from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stephens lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.36.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.63 on Friday. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $37.62 and a 12-month high of $67.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.62 and a 200-day moving average of $44.63. The firm has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.24. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 4.39%.The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.08%.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.