Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Sells 65,016 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,002,213 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 65,016 shares during the quarter. Lamb Weston accounts for approximately 3.9% of Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.70% of Lamb Weston worth $66,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 224,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,972,000 after buying an additional 26,965 shares in the last quarter. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 24,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,330,000 after buying an additional 735,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 935,914 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,606,000 after buying an additional 15,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $52.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.39. 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 capitalization of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

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

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.