Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Purchases New Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LW. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,806 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 3,401 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Camarda Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Camarda Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,389 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 31.8% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 655 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Lamb Weston by 1.2% during the first quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.30.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of LW stock opened at $64.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75. 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 50 day simple moving average of $63.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.21. 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 (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. Research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston 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 acquired at an average price of $55.43 per share, with a total value of $554,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 173,377 shares in the company, valued at $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.66% of the stock is owned by company 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.