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Bull of the Day: Lamb Weston (LW)

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The Zacks Consumer Staples sector has outperformed the S&P 500 over the last month, penciling in roughly a 4% gain and indicating favorable momentum.

One stock in the sector, Lamb Weston, (LW - Free Report) , has seen its earnings outlook turn visibly bright across all timeframes in the recent term, landing the stock into the highly-coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Lamb Weston is a leading global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of value-added frozen potato products. The company operates through three segments: Global, Foodservice, and Retail. Let’s take a deeper dive into how the potato titan currently stacks up.

Share Performance

While the market’s rebound in 2023 has been remarkable, LW’s share performance has been even more remarkable, up a strong 24% and reflecting great relative strength.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

And over the last year, LW shares have again provided market-beating returns, up nearly 68% and crushing the general market’s performance.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The favorable price action within shares clearly indicates positive sentiment, with buyers well in control just not in 2023 but over the last year as well.

Valuation

LW shares may not entice value-focused investors, with the stock carrying a Style Score of “D” for Value.

Lamb Weston shares presently trade at a 24.3X forward earnings multiple, a few ticks below the 25.9X five-year median and well above the Zacks Consumer Staples sector average of 19.7X.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

In addition, the company’s forward price-to-sales ratio currently sits at 3.1X, marginally above the five-year median and below the Zacks Consumer Staples sector average.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Quarterly Performance

The company has delivered big as of late, exceeding the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate by double-digit percentages in six consecutive quarters. Just in its latest release, Lamb Weston penciled in a 46% EPS beat paired with a 6.5% positive sales surprise.

Shares have regularly gotten a boost post-earnings, as we can see illustrated by the circled arrows in the chart below.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Keep an eye out for LW’s next quarterly release expected on July 26th; the Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate of $1.05 suggests an improvement of more than 60% from the year-ago quarter.

Dividends

Everybody loves dividends, as they provide a boost to any portfolio and provide a passive income stream. Fortunately for investors, LW has little problem increasingly rewarding its shareholders, carrying a 7% five-year annualized dividend growth rate.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company’s annual dividend currently yields 1%, below the Zacks Consumer Staples average. Still, the dividend growth helps pick up the slack.

Bottom Line

Investors can implement a stellar strategy to find expected winners by taking advantage of the Zacks Rank – one of the most powerful market tools that provides a massive edge.

Additionally, the top 5% of all stocks receive the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). These stocks should outperform the market more than any other rank.

Lamb Weston (LW - Free Report) would be an excellent stock for investors to keep on their watchlists, as displayed by its Zack Rank #1 (Strong Buy).


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