Prudent Man Advisors LLC Has $314,000 Stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,703 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LW. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.8 %

LW stock opened at $51.87 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.16. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.28 and a fifty-two week high of $107.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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.