Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $26.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Conagra Brands traded as low as $23.88 and last traded at $23.55, with a volume of 82534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.28.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CAG. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAG. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,495,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604,367 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth $168,877,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth $110,704,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 106.4% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,077,000 shares of the company's stock worth $197,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the third quarter worth $65,932,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 3.9 %

The business's 50-day moving average price is $26.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.54. The company has a market capitalization of $12.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is 137.26%.

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.