Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,927 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Lamb Weston worth $10,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,474,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,279,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 108.7% in the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 156,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,115,000 after buying an additional 44,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,506,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on LW. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 2.6 %

LW opened at $67.00 on Monday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $111.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Lamb Weston

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.