Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.15, but opened at $13.69. Conagra Brands shares last traded at $14.1280, with a volume of 6,238,128 shares traded.

Key Headlines Impacting Conagra Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Conagra Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Conagra beat quarterly EPS estimates and posted 3.6% year-over-year revenue growth, which helped offset some of the weaker parts of the report. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts lifted price targets after the update, including JPMorgan to $15 and UBS to $14, suggesting the new outlook may be more realistic even if growth is modest. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are viewing the dividend cut as a way to free up roughly $335 million annually for debt reduction and reinvestment, which could support a turnaround under new management. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is pursuing a “strategic reset,” including higher reinvestment, a margin reset, supply-chain improvements, and portfolio simplification, which could help long term but will take time to show results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies kept a Hold rating and raised its target to $14, reflecting a cautious stance after revenue and operating profit came in below expectations. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Conagra’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $1.40 to $1.50 came in below Wall Street expectations, signaling ongoing profit pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company also reported a quarterly loss and announced a 50% dividend reduction, underscoring the strain from higher costs and weaker margins. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAG shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 2.8%

The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.72. The firm has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.62 and a beta of -0.02.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -35.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 303,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,084,000 after buying an additional 47,658 shares during the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in Conagra Brands by 9.3% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 26.4% in the second quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 110,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the last quarter. Steadtrust LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 124.1% in the second quarter. Steadtrust LLC now owns 76,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 42,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 58.3% during the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 20,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 7,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

About Conagra Brands

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.