Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Receives $81.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW opened at $59.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.78. The stock has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.72. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is currently 58.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, for a total transaction of $75,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. City State Bank boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.