Dark Forest Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lowered its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 85.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,294 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,398 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.64.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW opened at $52.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $89.51. The firm has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.04%.

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.