Naples Global Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Naples Global Advisors LLC reduced its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LW. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in Lamb Weston by 250.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,341 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,208 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd raised its position in Lamb Weston by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 58,749 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 16,778 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 26.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,719 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $57.34 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.49. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.99 and a 12-month high of $107.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.72.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

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.