BNP Paribas Exane Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Stock Price

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at BNP Paribas Exane from $48.00 to $41.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of LW opened at $39.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.49. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $37.62 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.77.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 42,039 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 78.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 26,114 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,354,000 after buying an additional 11,511 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 158,967 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,242,000 after buying an additional 27,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter valued at about $465,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Lamb Weston

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

• Positive Sentiment: Lamb Weston beat Q3 revenue and EPS expectations, showing revenue of $1.56B and adjusted EPS of $0.72, which underpins the argument that top-line demand remains resilient. Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Management reiterated its “Focus to Win” cost‑savings program and a $250M target (management says it’s on track), which could help margin recovery and free cash flow over time. Earnings Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Lower contracted potato input costs (North America low‑single-digit decline, Europe mid‑teens) were flagged as a potential tailwind for fiscal 2027 margins. MarketBeat Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ consensus remains mixed: the street’s average rating is around “Hold” even as some firms retain overweight views — reflecting uncertainty rather than clear bullishness. Analyst Consensus
• Negative Sentiment: Several brokers trimmed price targets after the quarter (BNP Paribas Exane to $41, Barclays to $46, Stifel/Wells Fargo/BofA lowered targets), signaling reduced near‑term earnings visibility and prompting selling pressure. BNP Paribas PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cut their forecasts and models after the results, citing persistent margin erosion from international expansion, mix and plant utilization — the main reason the stock has been under pressure despite a beat. Benzinga Coverage

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.