Nicholas Company Inc. Lowers Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Nicholas Company Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 166,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,616 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $11,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LW. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 9.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $402,791,000 after buying an additional 549,812 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,388,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $218,598,000 after buying an additional 24,097 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 108.7% in the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,207,000 after buying an additional 1,618,570 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at $129,480,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 31.6% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,951,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $126,309,000 after buying an additional 468,190 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 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.