Lamb Weston $LW Stake Lessened by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,896 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 18,604 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Lamb Weston worth $8,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 39,669 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,330 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 1,532 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,960 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 396.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,051 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW opened at $50.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.24 and a 200-day moving average of $54.67. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.45.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on LW. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price target on Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.