Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $47.23 and last traded at $47.2230, with a volume of 2686633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.33.

Key Lamb Weston News

Here are the key news stories impacting Lamb Weston this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat and profit swing — LW posted net sales of $1.618B (up ~1%) and swung to net income of $62.1M with EPS of $0.69, marginally above street estimates; operating income and net income showed large year‑over‑year improvements. Business Wire Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlights the profit turnaround — outlets note the company “swung to a profit” as revenue edged up, reinforcing that earnings momentum improved this quarter. WSJ: Lamb Weston Swings to Profit
• Neutral Sentiment: Company reaffirmed FY‑2026 outlook with revenue guidance roughly in line with consensus ($6.4B–$6.6B), which reduces upside surprise risk but provides some visibility. Guidance/Reaffirmation
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst previews and model updates circulated ahead of the print; some shops adjusted forecasts modestly but no broad consensus of a large beat. Benzinga: Analyst Forecast Changes
• Negative Sentiment: Top‑line growth was only ~1% y/y and the EPS beat was minimal (+$0.01), which may have disappointed investors seeking stronger growth or margin expansion given the stock’s prior run. Quarterly Release / Slides
• Negative Sentiment: Balance‑sheet and valuation risks — LW carries meaningful leverage (debt/equity ~2.0) and modest margins, which can amplify downside if growth stalls or input costs reaccelerate. (Context from company filings/metrics.)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $66.00 price objective on Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Cfra Research raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.20.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.90 and its 200 day moving average is $57.22. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 28.08%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 70.81%.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,500,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $239,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483,559 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 21.1% in the first quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,721,559 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $198,359,000 after acquiring an additional 648,855 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.5% in the third 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the second quarter valued at about $119,413,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.