Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Rating Lowered to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, July 25th, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $60.00 price objective on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $115.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential downside of 3.10% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on LW. Barclays decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $105.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $106.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.70.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 1.0 %

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

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 the consensus estimate of $1.24 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. On average, research analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Successful Portfolios LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,042,000. Deltec Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 41,432 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,478,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in 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.