Wall Street Zen Upgrades Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) to Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Lamb Weston from “hold” to “buy,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold,” with three Buy ratings and 11 Hold ratings and an average price target of $53.36.
• Lamb Weston reported a quarterly earnings beat, with EPS of $0.87 versus the $0.63 consensus and revenue of $1.77 billion, up 5.6% year over year and above estimates.
• The stock opened at $52.62, while institutional investors own 89.56% of shares; several firms recently increased their positions, including Amundi, which raised its stake by 405.9%.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report 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 stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.36.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $52.62 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $45.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 4.39%.The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LW. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 42,039 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 405.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 256,794 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $13,548,000 after buying an additional 206,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 70.7% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,116 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 7,503 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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.