Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.56.

Several research firms have weighed in on CAG. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas raised Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $25.94 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.33. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $25.91 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $12.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.25%.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CAG. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 82.8% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the third quarter worth $47,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Conagra Brands by 229.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.