Alberta Investment Management Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its position in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 41.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 210,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 148,400 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $8,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $125,662,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares during the period. Ion Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth $84,379,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2,682.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 801,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,584,000 after buying an additional 772,893 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 46.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,872,000 after buying an additional 680,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $45.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $37.62 and a 52-week high of $67.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal 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 payout ratio is currently 71.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp acquired 136,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $40.89 per share, for a total transaction of $5,561,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,148,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. This represents a 2.71% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Lamb Weston

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.