Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.45.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $30.17 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.27 and its 200 day moving average is $29.38. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $25.16 and a 12-month high of $31.82. The stock has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.32, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,523.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Conagra Brands news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total transaction of $469,034.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 113,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,439,523.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $508,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 267.0% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 292,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,374,000 after purchasing an additional 212,603 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,304,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,395,000 after purchasing an additional 36,057 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

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.