Meyer Handelman Co. Reduces Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Meyer Handelman Co. cut its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 117,042 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,079 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $7,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LW. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,901 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 143.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,439,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $59.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.73. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.99 and a 12 month high of $110.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.81.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.50%.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.