Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Shares Gap Down to $64.91

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $64.91, but opened at $63.00. Lamb Weston shares last traded at $66.00, with a volume of 629,698 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LW shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.70.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.66. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 173,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,695,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,778,533,000 after acquiring an additional 60,601 shares during the period. TPG GP A LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 74.4% during the 2nd quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 2,924,230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,206 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,045,582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,993,000 after acquiring an additional 114,049 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 78.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,888,556 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,790,000 after acquiring an additional 830,511 shares during the period. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,233,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $131,396,000 after acquiring an additional 129,120 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.