Acquisition should boost earnings

Article Excerpt

LAMB WESTON HOLDINGS INC. $91 is a buy. The company (New York symbol LW, Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 145.7 million; Market cap: $13.3 billion; P-to-S ratio: 2.5; Divd. yield: 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.lambweston.com) is a leading producer of frozen french fries, potatoes and other packaged vegetables. In February 2023, Lamb Weston paid $564.0 million for the 50% interest in its joint venture with Netherlands-based Meijer Frozen Foods B.V. that it didn’t already own. Lamb Weston now owns 100% of this business, which operates four processing facilities in the Netherlands and one in the U.K.; it also holds a 75% stake in an Austrian plant. As a result, Lamb Weston expects its sales in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2024, will increase by roughly 27% to $6.8 billion. The higher revenue should also increase earnings for the year by about 11% to $5.18 a share. The stock trades at a reasonable 17.6 times that forecast. The $1.12 dividend yields 1.2%. Lamb Weston remains…