Brokerages Set Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target at $53.36

Shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.3636.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Lamb Weston from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $49.88 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $37.62 and a 52-week high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.93. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.47.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.33%. Lamb Weston’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.08%.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $730,276,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Lamb Weston by 4,167.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,562,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $283,356,000 after purchasing an additional 6,408,412 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $125,662,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $411,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the second quarter valued at $84,379,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.