Analysts Set Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Target Price at $87.70

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.70.

LW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Consumer Edge cut shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $98.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE:LW opened at $61.09 on Friday. Lamb Weston has a 12-month low of $52.99 and a 12-month high of $111.88. The firm has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.09.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued 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). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.23%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director William G. Jurgensen bought 10,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 173,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The purchase 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 Trading of Lamb Weston

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter worth $1,881,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 37,844 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after buying an additional 17,344 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,403 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC acquired a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $951,000. 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.