Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,663 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LW. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.67 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.00 and a 200 day moving average of $66.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the business’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 purchase, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This trade represents 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 purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston 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.