Boston Partners Has $232.33 Million Stock Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 735,901 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $232,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LW. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $129,480,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth approximately $86,883,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth approximately $38,382,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $402,791,000 after purchasing an additional 549,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 31.6% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,951,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $126,309,000 after purchasing an additional 468,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started 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 for the company. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $52.88 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.82 and a 200-day moving average of $66.39. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.90 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 company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 58.50%.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.