Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Lamb Weston, with 11 hold ratings and three buys among 14 brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $53.36.
• Lamb Weston’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.87 versus a $0.63 consensus and revenue of $1.77 billion, up 5.6% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to $1.52 annually and a 2.8% yield; institutional investors own 89.56% of the outstanding shares.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.3636.

LW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $54.94 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $49.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.87. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is currently 73.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the second quarter worth $730,276,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $698,692,000 after purchasing an additional 43,766 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $411,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,874 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 4,167.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,562,194 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $283,356,000 after purchasing an additional 6,408,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $300,812,000 after purchasing an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company's stock.

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.

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