New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 30,155 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,155 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Lamb Weston worth $12,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 46,777 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,126,000 after purchasing an additional 6,405 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at $2,850,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 69,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,631,000 after buying an additional 10,594 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,825 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 14,559 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. This trade 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.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of LW stock opened at $55.76 on Monday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $107.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.21 and a 200-day moving average of $67.53.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 58.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LW. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

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.