Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.64. 802,220 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,460,794. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $67.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.00.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is presently 54.68%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In related news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $698,692,000 after buying an additional 43,766 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $411,558,000 after buying an additional 2,111,874 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,812,000 after acquiring an additional 63,865 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lamb Weston by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,528,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $147,536,000 after purchasing an additional 21,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $190,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.