Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 on May 30th

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%.

Lamb Weston has increased its dividend by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years. Lamb Weston has a payout ratio of 37.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

Shares of LW stock opened at $53.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.14. 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 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $107.50. The company has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. Lamb Weston’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles A. Blixt bought 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.94 per share, with a total value of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.73.

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.