Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Three equities 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.45.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $44.74 on Friday. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $37.62 and a 1-year high of $67.07. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $50.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.49.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.24. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 4.39%.The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 349.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 690,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,180,000 after buying an additional 536,745 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 525,541 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,762,000 after acquiring an additional 53,655 shares during the last quarter. JANA Partners Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. JANA Partners Management LP now owns 5,394,635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,940,000 after acquiring an additional 386,000 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth $963,000. Finally, Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 99.6% during the 4th quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 185,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,766,000 after acquiring an additional 92,500 shares during the period. 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.