First National Advisers LLC Purchases 16,423 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

First National Advisers LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 84.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,953 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,423 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 2.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 17.7% in the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in Lamb Weston by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 4,324 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LW shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $40.38 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $37.62 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired a total of 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston 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.