Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 2nd

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd.

Lamb Weston has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 7 consecutive years. Lamb Weston has a payout ratio of 21.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lamb Weston to earn $6.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.3%.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $84.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.72. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $77.41 and a 12 month high of $117.38.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.20). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 16.71% and a return on equity of 50.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LW. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.40.

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.