Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2,050.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 167,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $11,181,000 after buying an additional 67,300 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,229,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $82,174,000 after buying an additional 16,092 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 16,251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $751,000. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Lamb Weston Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $48.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.51. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $107.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, research 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

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.