Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.36.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,010 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 251.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 436 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,208,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 237.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 185,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,592,000 after buying an additional 130,428 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $79.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $52.99 and a 52-week high of $111.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.05.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.80%.

About Lamb Weston

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.