Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Buys New Shares in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,306,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LW. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 221,778 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $18,642,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 13.0% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 13,509 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Lamb Weston by 35.5% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 24.0% in the second quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 14,975 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 2,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,697 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $65.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.13. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $111.88.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.24 by ($0.46). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William G. Jurgensen acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 173,377 shares in the company, valued at $9,610,287.11. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. Consumer Edge cut shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.20.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.