Short Interest in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Grows By 28.5%

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,430,000 shares, a growth of 28.5% from the September 30th total of 5,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up previously from $63.00) on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Consumer Edge lowered shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.22.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 20.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 207,710 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 34,553 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 66.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,028,000 after buying an additional 15,364 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 1st quarter valued at about $810,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,937,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $77.41 on Wednesday. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $52.99 and a 52-week high of $111.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.75.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 19.23%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.