Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Sets New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $26.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Conagra Brands traded as low as $23.88 and last traded at $23.55, with a volume of 82534 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.28.

CAG has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,085,000 after acquiring an additional 62,187 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 110.8% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 36,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 19,329 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 78,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 22,790 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,048,000 after acquiring an additional 618,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,020,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.59. The company has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. Conagra Brands’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.77%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.26%.

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.