Nicholas Company Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Nicholas Company Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 215,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,545 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $23,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 113.4% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 864.0% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,294 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 537.1% in the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW traded down $0.94 during trading on Monday, reaching $87.35. 1,074,720 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,195,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.19. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.41 and a 12-month high of $117.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.74. The company has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.75.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.20). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 16.71% and a return on equity of 50.74%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.40.

About Lamb Weston

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.