Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 34,659 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 336% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,946 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 34.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,010 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 251.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 436 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 237.1% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 185,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,592,000 after acquiring an additional 130,428 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 86.2% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,946 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 75.8% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,016 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,594 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 20.1 %

NYSE LW opened at $62.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $111.88. The company has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.25.

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.