ING Groep NV Makes New $754,000 Investment in Lamb Weston $LW

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 18,009 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,820,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,130,000 after buying an additional 670,000 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lamb Weston by 187.8% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 99,527 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after acquiring an additional 64,950 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at about $776,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 19,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 136,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $40.89 per share, with a total value of $5,561,040.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,148,980 shares in the company, valued at $210,541,792.20. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE LW opened at $44.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $42.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $37.62 and a 52 week high of $67.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

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.