Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Invests $615,000 in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,944 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,191 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $796,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,678 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after buying an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $48.67 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

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

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.