GWN Securities Inc. Makes New $484,000 Investment in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 7,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 165,953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,221 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 344,106 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,277,000 after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 98.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 12,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,323 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, 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. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE LW opened at $50.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.50. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.90 and a 52-week high of $107.50.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. 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.