Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Shares Gap Down to $64.91

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $64.91, but opened at $63.00. Lamb Weston shares last traded at $66.00, with a volume of 629,698 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Consumer Edge lowered shares of Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $108.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.70.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.8 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.66.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 44.06% and a net margin of 11.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $55.43 per share, for a total transaction of $554,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,610,287.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lamb Weston

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,870 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 4,280 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $611,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 148,977 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $16,103,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,940,000 after buying an additional 5,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.