Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stake in Lamb Weston $LW

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 252,674 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 25,956 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $10,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LW. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares during the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the second quarter worth $84,379,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 2,682.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 801,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $33,584,000 after purchasing an additional 772,893 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 46.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $124,872,000 after purchasing an additional 680,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 129.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,089,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $63,256,000 after purchasing an additional 613,829 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.8%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $41.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.46. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $37.62 and a one year high of $67.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.46 and a 200 day moving average of $46.33.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 71.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Profile

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.