Lamb Weston Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:LW)

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 34,659 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 336% compared to the average volume of 7,946 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. City State Bank grew its position in Lamb Weston by 56.2% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 357.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.25.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW stock opened at $62.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.19. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $111.88. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.80%.

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.