Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Buys $182,820.00 in Stock

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW opened at $58.99 on Friday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $110.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on LW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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 research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. City State Bank boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth about $29,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 143.8% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

About Lamb Weston

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.