Allstate Corp Acquires New Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,190 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $96,736,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,330,000 after purchasing an additional 735,901 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 9.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,221,665 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $402,791,000 after buying an additional 549,812 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 697.4% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 350,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $23,408,000 after acquiring an additional 306,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter worth about $19,822,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:LW opened at $54.17 on Thursday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $103.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.27 and a 200 day moving average of $65.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

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.