Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.56.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

Conagra Brands stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.65. The company had a trading volume of 4,490,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,017,168. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $27.81 and its 200-day moving average is $29.42.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. Conagra Brands's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders 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 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is 137.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAG. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $796,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,945 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company's stock worth $373,180,000 after buying an additional 196,100 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company's stock worth $346,495,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company's stock worth $204,571,000 after acquiring an additional 122,590 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.