Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Director Buys $2,159,500.00 in Stock

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Jana Partners Management, Lp also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, April 13th, Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 100,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $42.12 per share, for a total transaction of $4,212,000.00.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 100,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.41 per share, for a total transaction of $4,141,000.00.
• On Tuesday, April 7th, Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 136,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.89 per share, for a total transaction of $5,561,040.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,029,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,190,322. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.49. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 86.1% in the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 960,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $55,859,000 after purchasing an additional 444,328 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 46.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $124,872,000 after purchasing an additional 680,000 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the third quarter worth approximately $1,611,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.9% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,279,345 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $74,304,000 after purchasing an additional 212,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 77.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 57,590 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,990,000 after purchasing an additional 25,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.