Stephens Cuts Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target to $50.00

Key Points

• Stephens lowered Lamb Weston’s price target to $50 from $55 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 14.7% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Lamb Weston has an overall “Hold” rating, with three Buy ratings and eleven Holds, and an average price target of $52.91.
• Lamb Weston exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.87 EPS versus a $0.63 consensus and $1.77 billion in revenue, up 5.6% year over year. Institutional investors own approximately 89.6% of the stock.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Stephens from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the specialty retailer's stock. Stephens' target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.72% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LW. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Lamb Weston from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.91.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $43.58 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $37.62 and a 1-year high of $67.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,869,644 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $210,271,000 after acquiring an additional 294,120 shares during the period. MAC Alpha Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.8% during the second quarter. MAC Alpha Capital Management LP now owns 104,103 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,496,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 36,968 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 4,273 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 18,389 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 44.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 48,963 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 15,092 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc NYSE: LW is a food company that produces and distributes frozen potato products. Its portfolio includes frozen french fries, potato wedges, hash browns, tater tots, mashed potatoes, sweet potato products and other specialty potato items.

The company serves restaurants, foodservice distributors, retailers and food manufacturers. Its products are sold under the Lamb Weston, Grown in Idaho and Alexia brands, as well as through private-label and customer-specific offerings.

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