WINTON GROUP Ltd Invests $776,000 in Lamb Weston $LW

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,520 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 7.5% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 4,324 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of LW opened at $44.23 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.63 and its 200 day moving average is $45.86. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 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 (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.