Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.18.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of CAG opened at $29.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.24. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $25.16 and a 12-month high of $33.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 191.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total transaction of $469,034.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,254 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,523.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,473,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,980,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,426,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,249 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,069,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 368.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,016,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,126,000 after purchasing an additional 799,175 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

Conagra Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice segments. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels.