Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

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

LW has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Lamb Weston from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 5.9%

LW stock opened at $43.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.30 and a 200-day moving average of $45.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $37.62 and a one year high of $67.07.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 73.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LW. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 26.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 8.9% in the second quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 22.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.7% in the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 78,694 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.