Grandfield & Dodd LLC Buys 44,564 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 213,409 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,564 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $8,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $698,692,000 after acquiring an additional 43,766 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,812,000 after acquiring an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,528,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $147,536,000 after acquiring an additional 21,256 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $190,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,257 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at about $125,662,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.82.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 136,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $40.89 per share, for a total transaction of $5,561,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,148,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $43.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Lamb Weston has a twelve month low of $37.62 and a twelve month high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.03%.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.