Zacks Research Boosts Earnings Estimates for Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) – Analysts at Zacks Research upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Lamb Weston in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the specialty retailer will post earnings of $2.77 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.72. Zacks Research currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Lamb Weston’s current full-year earnings is $3.10 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Lamb Weston’s Q4 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.62 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.76 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.92 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.69 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.99 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $0.74 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $0.87 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.37 EPS.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $43.73 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.95. The company has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.46. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 441,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,703,290. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 380.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 721 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Lamb Weston News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lamb Weston this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large Jana Partners purchases — Jana Partners (a director-level holder) bought additional LW shares across April (multiple buys at ~$40.89–$43.19), including a disclosed $6.3M purchase reported by Investing.com; the accumulation (totaling millions of dollars and several hundred thousand shares) signals activist/insider conviction and likely underpins today’s rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Insider director buy filing — SEC disclosures show Jana Partners purchased 50k shares on April 15 at ~$43.19 (and larger earlier buys on April 7–13), increasing its ownership and publicly signalling confidence in Lamb Weston’s outlook. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks lifted some near-term estimates — Zacks Research raised its Q3 2028 EPS view (to $1.04) and nudged FY2026 higher to $2.77, showing pockets of upside in later-period expectations; Zacks retains a “Hold” rating. (No external link provided.)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks cut multiple near-term and multi-year forecasts — the same Zacks note trimmed Q1 & Q2 2028, several quarters in FY2027, and reduced FY2027/FY2028 totals (FY2028 to $3.37 from $3.46), indicating lower near-term visibility and modest downside to earnings expectations that could cap upside if the guidance/market conditions remain weak. (No external link provided.)

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.