Dark Forest Capital Management LP Cuts Position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lowered its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 85.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,294 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,398 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at $423,270,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,736,000. Continental Grain Co. acquired a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,786,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,477,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,330,000 after purchasing an additional 735,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 697.4% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 350,268 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $23,408,000 after buying an additional 306,343 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $52.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.76. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $89.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.48.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.23. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 27.82%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 58.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Lamb Weston and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Lamb Weston from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.64.

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.