Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $2.60 Million in Lamb Weston $LW

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 61,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,603,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 14.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,610 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,787,000 after acquiring an additional 19,774 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 191.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 471,886 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $19,922,000 after purchasing an additional 309,995 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,903 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,864 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 11,063 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $45.17 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $37.62 and a 1 year high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.03%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 136,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $40.89 per share, for a total transaction of $5,561,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,148,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. This represents a 2.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.82.

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.