Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 33,591 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 348% compared to the average daily volume of 7,501 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LW shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of LW stock traded down $2.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $53.27. 1,514,510 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,219,294. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.53. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 156,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,457,000 after acquiring an additional 45,904 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,474,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.