Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Receives Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $29.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CAG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.88.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.11. The company had a trading volume of 14,502,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,837,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Conagra Brands has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $33.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.54. The company has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is 135.92%.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 573,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,660,000 after buying an additional 3,597 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 85,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $196,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 526.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 167,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 140,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 134,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,360,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. 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.