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

Key Points

• Analyst consensus remains “Hold”: Eleven of 14 analysts rate Lamb Weston a hold, while three recommend buying; the average 12-month price target is $53.36.
• Lamb Weston reported quarterly EPS of $0.87, beating estimates of $0.63, while revenue rose 5.6% year over year to $1.77 billion. Analysts expect approximately $3.05 in EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, equivalent to a $1.52 annualized payout and a 2.8% yield; institutional investors own 89.56% of the stock.

Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.3636.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LW. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lamb Weston from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, July 27th. 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 report on Thursday, July 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 0.3% in the fourth 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 increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.6% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Lamb Weston by 2.5% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $53.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $37.62 and a 12-month high of $67.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.42 and a 200 day moving average of $44.93.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The business's revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Lamb Weston's dividend payout ratio is 73.08%.

Lamb Weston Company 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.

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