Verition Fund Management LLC Has $20.43 Million Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2,198.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 315,597 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 301,866 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $20,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. City State Bank increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 357.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 135.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.22.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $77.24 on Friday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.99 and a 52 week high of $111.88. The company has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 33.80%.

About Lamb Weston

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.