Consumer Edge Downgrades Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) to Equal Weight

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) was downgraded by Consumer Edge from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Friday, July 26th, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LW. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $105.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $115.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.70.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of LW traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.92. 1,962,884 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,520,579. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.91 and a 200-day moving average of $83.80. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.74. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $111.88.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.46). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director William G. Jurgensen bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.43 per share, with a total value of $554,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 173,377 shares in the company, valued at $9,610,287.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. Maven Securities LTD bought a new position in Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter worth $504,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 57.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 30,499 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 11,138 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,037 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,554 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.