State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,732 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 16,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $751,000. Grandfield & Dodd LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $2,341,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 63.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,971 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 1,931 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on LW. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Insider Activity

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW stock opened at $52.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.28 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The firm has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.83.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.50%.

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.