Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.16% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Conagra Brands stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $29.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,269,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,761,587. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. 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 company has a market cap of $14.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.26.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871,238 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 148.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,186 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,209,000 after purchasing an additional 78,487 shares during the period. 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.