Heartland Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 78.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 134,223 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 59,194 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $8,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LW. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 88,020 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,882,000 after purchasing an additional 40,309 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 87,682 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,860,000 after buying an additional 11,553 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,702 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,921,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,736,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $2,648,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.90. The firm has a market cap of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

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.