Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Increases Dividend to $0.38 Per Share

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.38 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, February 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This is a 2.7% increase from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Lamb Weston has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Lamb Weston has a payout ratio of 38.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lamb Weston to earn $3.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.7%.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 25.8%

LW traded down $15.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.01. 23,378,406 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,202,395. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.22. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $43.71 and a 52-week high of $68.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 28.08% and a net margin of 4.56%.The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.