Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Cuts Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. cut its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,025 shares during the quarter. Lamb Weston comprises about 0.7% of Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $2,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $93,553,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 117.2% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,230,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,035,000 after acquiring an additional 663,985 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $56,699,000. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth about $42,518,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 713,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $77,113,000 after buying an additional 364,851 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LW. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Consumer Edge lowered Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.70.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $63.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.26. The company has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.74. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.99 and a 12-month high of $111.88.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.24 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.