Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Coverage Initiated at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $85.00 target price on the specialty retailer’s stock.

LW has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $63.00) on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Lamb Weston from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamb Weston presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.50.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $79.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $52.99 and a 12 month high of $111.88.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 18.8% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,122 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,288,000 after buying an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 298.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,361 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,063,000 after buying an additional 14,508 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 17.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 135.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.