Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CAG. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.00.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CAG traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,341,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,800,442. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.27. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The business's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is 191.78%.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business's 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 approximately $4,890,108.47. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 920,292 shares of the company's stock worth $26,376,000 after purchasing an additional 60,636 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,322 shares of the company's stock worth $5,397,000 after buying an additional 14,578 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 86,048 shares of the company's stock worth $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 71,260 shares during the period. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $880,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently 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.