Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 919,999 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 18,623 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.64% of Lamb Weston worth $77,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,695,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,778,533,000 after purchasing an additional 60,601 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 11.7% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,233,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $131,396,000 after acquiring an additional 129,120 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 117.2% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,230,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,035,000 after acquiring an additional 663,985 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,121,626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,300,000 after acquiring an additional 38,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at $93,553,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $65.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.43 and a 200 day moving average of $79.61. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.99 and a 52 week high of $111.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its 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 return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.20.

Lamb Weston 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.