Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Plans $0.37 Quarterly Dividend

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%.

Lamb Weston has raised its dividend by an average of 15.3% annually over the last three years. Lamb Weston has a dividend payout ratio of 37.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lamb Weston to earn $3.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.7%.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.1 %

LW stock opened at $52.75 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.49 and its 200 day moving average is $66.20. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $107.50.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, Director Robert A. Niblock acquired 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. The trade was a 12.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This trade represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.