Brokerages Set Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) PT at $48.00

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.8182.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LW shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stephens started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW opened at $42.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $37.62 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.94.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 71.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,862,000 after buying an additional 42,039 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 3.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 405.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 256,794 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,548,000 after purchasing an additional 206,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 70.7% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,116 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 7,503 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.