Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on LW. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. BNP Paribas set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell 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 $54.18.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $41.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.88 and a 200-day moving average of $55.65. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $39.79 and a one year high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 6.06%.The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamb Weston

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LW. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 64.2% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 537 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Motco acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently 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.