Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by BNP Paribas Exane

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) was downgraded by investment analysts at BNP Paribas Exane from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $65.00 price objective on Lamb Weston and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Cfra Research raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $50.00 price target on shares of Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.67.

Lamb Weston Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:LW traded down $1.09 on Monday, hitting $42.85. 3,426,465 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,206,267. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.17. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $42.67 and a 52 week high of $68.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.44.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 28.08% and a net margin of 4.56%.The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth about $400,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 912,668 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,322,000 after buying an additional 207,210 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in Lamb Weston by 291.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 391,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,310,000 after acquiring an additional 291,700 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Lamb Weston by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 287,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,889,000 after acquiring an additional 56,664 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the third quarter valued at $1,611,000. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.