Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Stock Has Average Price Target of $53.82

Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.82.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on LW shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $57.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $37.62 and a 52-week high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.27% and a net margin of 3.85%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 3.050-3.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 83.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 349.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 690,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,180,000 after acquiring an additional 536,745 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $963,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 525,541 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $21,762,000 after purchasing an additional 53,655 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $997,000. Finally, JANA Partners Management LP raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 5,394,635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,940,000 after purchasing an additional 386,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc (NYSE:LW) is a global producer and distributor of frozen potato products. The company supplies French fries, potato wedges, hash browns, tater tots, mashed potatoes, sweet potato products and other potato-based offerings to foodservice operators, restaurants, retailers and institutional customers.

Lamb Weston serves customers in North America and international markets through a portfolio of branded, licensed and customer-specific products. Its offerings are used by restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels and other foodservice establishments, as well as sold through retail and grocery channels.