Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) to Issue $0.36 Quarterly Dividend

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.36 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd.

Lamb Weston has raised 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 6 consecutive years. Lamb Weston has a payout ratio of 28.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lamb Weston to earn $5.41 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 26.6%.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

LW traded up $0.62 on Friday, hitting $61.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,962,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,520,579. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.80. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.74. Lamb Weston has a 1-year low of $52.99 and a 1-year high of $111.88.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The specialty retailer reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 11.22% and a return on equity of 44.06%. Equities analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, Director William G. Jurgensen purchased 10,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,610,287.11. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Consumer Edge cut Lamb Weston from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $61.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $132.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $96.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.70.

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.