Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LW. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $40.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Lamb Weston from $42.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.36.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $52.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.69. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.33% and a net margin of 4.39%.Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Lamb Weston has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.950-3.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LW. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 valued at $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 42,039 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 405.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 256,794 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,548,000 after buying an additional 206,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,116 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 7,503 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently 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.