Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Shares Sold by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,109 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 9.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,388,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $218,598,000 after purchasing an additional 24,097 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at about $129,480,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,951,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $126,309,000 after purchasing an additional 468,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE LW opened at $50.07 on Tuesday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.49 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.27.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% 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.