Holderness Investments Co. Takes $209,000 Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Holderness Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Hawaii raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 1.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 5,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,531 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Lamb Weston by 3.4% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,235 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 16,947 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 85.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LW has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eryk J. Spytek sold 6,319 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.23, for a total transaction of $652,310.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,052 shares in the company, valued at $108,597.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LW stock traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.12. 267,279 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,395,889. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.40. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.91 and a 1-year high of $117.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.54.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The specialty retailer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.17. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 84.65% and a net margin of 18.86%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.18%.

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.