JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target to $46.00

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $52.00 to $46.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $43.60 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $37.62 and a 52 week high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 4.39%.The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth $730,276,000. JANA Partners Management LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $232,940,000 after acquiring an additional 386,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,869,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $210,271,000 after acquiring an additional 294,120 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 21,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $125,662,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LW) is a global producer and marketer of frozen potato products. The company supplies French fries, potato wedges, hash browns, potato rounds, mashed potatoes and other specialty potato products to restaurants, foodservice distributors, retailers and food manufacturers.

Its product portfolio includes conventional and specialty frozen potato offerings, as well as sweet potato products and appetizer items. Lamb Weston sells products under its Lamb Weston and Grown in Idaho brands, while also providing private-label products for retail and foodservice customers.

The company’s history dates to the 1950s, when it began producing frozen potato products in the Pacific Northwest.