Swedbank AB Increases Stake in Lamb Weston $LW

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 914,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17,165 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $38,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $698,692,000 after buying an additional 43,766 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $190,869,000 after buying an additional 79,257 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $118,768,000 after buying an additional 2,828,983 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 46.3% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,872,000 after buying an additional 680,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LW shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Insider Activity

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:LW opened at $43.67 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $37.62 and a one year high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.41, a PEG ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

Lamb Weston Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.