Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

LW has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.36.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $53.06 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.79. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $37.62 and a 1-year high of $67.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.46.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Arnhold LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 710.2% in the fourth quarter. Arnhold LLC now owns 38,217 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 33,500 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 89,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,770,000 after purchasing an additional 27,835 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 349.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 690,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,180,000 after acquiring an additional 536,745 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 4th quarter valued at $1,264,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth about $3,071,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.