Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target Raised to $68.00 at Bank of America

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $66.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on LW. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Lamb Weston from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Consumer Edge downgraded Lamb Weston from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Lamb Weston from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $83.20.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW opened at $65.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.75. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $52.99 and a 52-week high of $111.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.70 and its 200-day moving average is $80.03.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 4.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 19.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen acquired 10,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamb Weston

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 20.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 207,710 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 34,553 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 66.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 15,364 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the first quarter valued at $810,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth about $7,937,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston during the first quarter worth about $28,000. 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.