Stephens Cuts Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target to $50.00

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) had its price target decreased by Stephens from $55.00 to $50.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

LW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $41.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.58 and a 200-day moving average of $45.90. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $37.62 and a one year high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.24. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 73.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamb Weston

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Lamb Weston during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 380.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 721 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.