Candriam S.C.A. Sells 4,802 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Candriam S.C.A. cut its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,802 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.18% of Lamb Weston worth $21,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,695,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,778,533,000 after purchasing an additional 60,601 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,842,751 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,183,000 after purchasing an additional 241,848 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,233,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,396,000 after purchasing an additional 129,120 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in Lamb Weston by 117.2% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,230,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,035,000 after purchasing an additional 663,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,167,446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $126,189,000 after purchasing an additional 21,981 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $55.43 per share, with a total value of $554,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LW. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Consumer Edge downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.70.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.5 %

LW opened at $63.02 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $66.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.29. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.99 and a fifty-two week high of $111.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 19.23%.

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.