Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys Shares of 1,342,025 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,342,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $86,883,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 108.7% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,107,929 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $201,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,570 shares during the last quarter. TPG GP A LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 74.4% during the 2nd quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,924,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,869,000 after buying an additional 1,247,206 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,045,582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,993,000 after acquiring an additional 114,049 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 78.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,888,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,790,000 after acquiring an additional 830,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 3.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,121,626 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $94,300,000 after acquiring an additional 38,970 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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, Barclays lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.22.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $76.92 on Friday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.99 and a 12-month high of $111.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.11 and a 200-day moving average of $74.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.72.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 33.80%.

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.