Argent Trust Co Invests $217,000 in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Argent Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,646,887 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,112,511,000 after acquiring an additional 58,066 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,330,000 after buying an additional 735,901 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,436,604 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $229,065,000 after buying an additional 48,548 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,226,695 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,640,000 after buying an additional 187,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,736,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $54.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.04. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $89.51. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $63.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.