Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 14,500 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 48.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 14,500 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $51.86 on Thursday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.93 and a fifty-two week high of $107.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.42.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio 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.