First National Trust Co Purchases Shares of 25,193 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

First National Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,193 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,723,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LW. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at $475,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 864.0% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,840 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 76,660 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 259.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE LW traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.08. 1,686,348 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,429,672. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.67 and its 200 day moving average is $98.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.19. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.41 and a fifty-two week high of $117.38.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 50.74% and a net margin of 16.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on LW shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.40.

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.