First National Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

First National Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 79.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,577 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 25,268 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,862,000 after buying an additional 42,039 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 14.5% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 63.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 5,650 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 3.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 33,895 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW opened at $50.29 on Thursday. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $39.79 and a 12-month high of $67.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.68%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.