Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Purchases 67,300 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 67.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,300 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. owned 0.12% of Lamb Weston worth $11,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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 on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Lamb Weston Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE LW opened at $50.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.49 and a 52 week high of $107.50.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

Lamb Weston 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.