First Horizon Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 74.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 719 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,054 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $48,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

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

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $51.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.74 and a 12 month high of $107.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LW. Citigroup cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Company 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.