Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Price Target to $15.00

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) had its price objective trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $17.00 to $15.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CAG. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $15.80.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $14.40 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.03 and a beta of 0.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.36. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $14.04 and a fifty-two week high of $25.27.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.15% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,400.00%.

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In other news, Director Richard H. Lenny bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 229,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,288,735.60. The trade was a 12.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John J. Mulligan bought 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.31 per share, for a total transaction of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,617.68. This represents a 542.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 10,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sutton Place Investors LLC now owns 31,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC now owns 176,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.5% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 136,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.