Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LW. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price objective on Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at $125,662,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $411,558,000 after buying an additional 2,111,874 shares during the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth $84,379,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2,682.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 801,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,584,000 after buying an additional 772,893 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:LW opened at $46.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.43. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $39.79 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.87.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.68%.

About Lamb Weston

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.