Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Price Target Raised to $78.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on LW. Citigroup raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.27.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of LW opened at $82.23 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $52.99 and a one year high of $111.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 34.33% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LW. City State Bank boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 56.2% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 417 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 357.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.