Conagra Brands, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 2nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share on Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th.

Conagra Brands has increased its dividend by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years. Conagra Brands has a payout ratio of 54.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Conagra Brands to earn $2.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.2%.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 1.8 %

CAG traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $26.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,540,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,072,990. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $25.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.40. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The company has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on CAG shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.90.

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.