Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 387,269 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 744,840 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 387,269 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $43,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LW. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 64.2% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 537 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. now owns 1,772 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.6% in the second quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 49,756 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,580,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LW shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Cfra Research raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $48.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.18.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE LW opened at $42.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $41.41 and a 12 month high of $68.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.30 and a 200-day moving average of $56.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 54.68%.

Lamb Weston Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.