Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Thirteen analysts rate Lamb Weston a "Hold" (1 sell, 9 hold, 3 buy) with an average 1‑year target of $48, and several firms have recently cut price targets or downgraded the stock.
• Recent results and dividend: Lamb Weston beat Q results ($0.72 EPS vs $0.61 est., revenue $1.56B, +2.9% YoY) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 (annualized $1.52) for a ~3.5% yield and a 71% payout ratio.
• Ownership activity: Insiders purchased roughly 441,000 shares (~$18.7M) in the last 90 days while insiders own 0.29% of the stock and institutional investors hold about 89.56%.

Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LW shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Lamb Weston from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. 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. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $43.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.49. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07. The business's 50-day moving average is $43.58 and its 200 day moving average is $49.95.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston's payout ratio is presently 71.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 17,204 shares of the company's stock, valued at $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 441,000 shares of company stock valued at $18,703,290 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $698,692,000 after buying an additional 43,766 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $411,558,000 after buying an additional 2,111,874 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,528,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $147,536,000 after buying an additional 21,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $190,869,000 after buying an additional 79,257 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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.