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

Key Points

• Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with one sell rating, eight hold ratings, and four buy ratings.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $0.74 EPS against an estimated $0.53, with revenues totaling $1.66 billion.
• Lamb Weston announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share, with a dividend payout ratio of 70.81%, and the ex-dividend date set for October 31st.

Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.70.

Several research firms recently weighed in on LW. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Lamb Weston to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.9%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $64.61 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $56.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.51. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $47.87 and a fifty-two week high of $83.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 30th. The specialty retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.21. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 28.08%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Lamb Weston's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.81%.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,072,932 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $909,987,000 after buying an additional 426,045 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,500,503 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $239,877,000 after buying an additional 1,483,559 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,055,902 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $216,180,000 after buying an additional 829,207 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,721,559 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $198,359,000 after buying an additional 648,855 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.

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