Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Buys 114,049 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,045,582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 114,049 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $171,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,553,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 117.2% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,230,538 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,035,000 after buying an additional 663,985 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at $56,699,000. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the second quarter valued at $42,518,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the second quarter valued at about $24,165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

LW opened at $65.44 on Friday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.99 and a fifty-two week high of $111.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.43 and a 200 day moving average of $79.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. On average, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $61.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.20.

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.