Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Acquires 114,049 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,045,582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 114,049 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 1.42% of Lamb Weston worth $171,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,695,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,778,533,000 after buying an additional 60,601 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $131,396,000 after acquiring an additional 129,120 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 valued at $94,300,000 after purchasing an additional 38,970 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,553,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of Lamb Weston 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 transaction, the director now owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $65.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.78. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.99 and a 12 month high of $111.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 19.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LW shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Consumer Edge cut shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.