Lamb Weston $LW Shares Purchased by JANA Partners Management LP

Key Points

• JANA Partners increased its Lamb Weston stake by 7.7% in the second quarter, purchasing 386,000 shares to own 5.39 million shares, or 3.92% of the company valued at approximately $232.9 million.
• Analysts raised several price targets, but coverage remains cautious: Lamb Weston has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $53.36. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the stock.
• Lamb Weston exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $0.87 per share and revenue of $1.77 billion, while revenue increased 5.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38, equivalent to a 3.0% annualized yield.

JANA Partners Management LP grew its stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,394,635 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 386,000 shares during the quarter. Lamb Weston comprises approximately 12.2% of JANA Partners Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. JANA Partners Management LP owned 3.92% of Lamb Weston worth $232,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Lamb Weston in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on LW. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lamb Weston from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.36.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $50.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $37.62 and a 52 week high of $67.07. The company's 50 day moving average price is $50.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.08%.

Lamb Weston 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source