Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.37 on February 28th

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36.

Lamb Weston has increased its dividend by an average of 6.8% per year over the last three years. Lamb Weston has a payout ratio of 29.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Lamb Weston to earn $4.97 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 29.0%.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Lamb Weston stock opened at $62.09 on Friday. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $52.99 and a fifty-two week high of $111.88. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 34.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Lamb Weston from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.42.

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.