Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.56.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAG. Bank of America lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at $201,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 185,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,259,000 after buying an additional 9,331 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 16.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 212,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,046,000 after acquiring an additional 29,999 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 145,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,124,000 after acquiring an additional 25,559 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 126.6% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CAG opened at $27.65 on Friday. Conagra Brands has a 1 year low of $26.21 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.25%.

About Conagra Brands

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.