Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.3333.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAG. Barclays decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Evercore decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $13.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Conagra Brands news, Director Richard H. Lenny bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 229,340 shares in the company, valued at $3,288,735.60. The trade was a 12.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John J. Mulligan bought 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.31 per share, with a total value of $250,425.00. Following the acquisition, 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. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 661,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,442,000 after acquiring an additional 131,287 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,125,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,725 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $2,415,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 153.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 406,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,897,000 after acquiring an additional 246,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 15.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,021,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,323,000 after acquiring an additional 408,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $13.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.90. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $12.53 and a fifty-two week high of $22.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.35. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -137.31 and a beta of -0.02.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,400.00%.

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.