Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) to a sell rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on LW. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:LW opened at $51.86 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.42. Lamb Weston has a twelve month low of $50.93 and a twelve month high of $107.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.72.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%. Lamb Weston’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.50%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 Trading of Lamb Weston

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,641,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter worth $2,850,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 156,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,457,000 after purchasing an additional 45,904 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at about $6,474,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

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.