Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at BNP Paribas

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BNP Paribas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

CAG has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.51. The company had a trading volume of 5,341,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,800,442. The company has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.29 and its 200-day moving average is $30.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24.

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

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 920,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,376,000 after acquiring an additional 60,636 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after buying an additional 14,578 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 86,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,466,000 after buying an additional 71,260 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $880,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

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.