Conagra Brands' (CAG) Sector Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on Conagra Brands with a $14 price target, implying roughly 7% upside; MarketBeat shows an overall “Reduce” consensus rating and $14.13 average target.
• Conagra exceeded fiscal Q1 2027 earnings expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.41 versus the $0.28 consensus and revenue of $2.60 billion, while reaffirming full-year EPS guidance of $1.40–$1.50.
• Despite the profit beat, revenue declined 1.4% year over year, operating profit fell sharply, and free cash flow was negative amid approximately $7.4 billion in net debt, keeping pressure on the company’s turnaround and valuation.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector perform" rating restated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $14.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price would suggest a potential upside of 7.16% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Evercore set a $13.00 price objective on Conagra Brands in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Conagra Brands from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $14.13.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:CAG traded down $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $13.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,872,239. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $12.53 and a 52-week high of $20.32. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $15.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -3.28 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.13. Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 16.99%.The business had revenue of $2.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC now owns 176,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,063,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,573 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Conagra Brands

Here are the key news stories impacting Conagra Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Conagra reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $0.41, well above the roughly $0.28–$0.31 analyst consensus, while revenue of $2.60 billion also narrowly exceeded estimates. Management cited lower SG&A, higher equity income and resilient demand for pantry staples such as Slim Jim. Reuters earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of $1.40–$1.50 and maintained its outlook for a 3% to 1% decline in organic net sales and a 10.0%–10.5% adjusted operating margin. The reaffirmation removes a near-term guidance-cut risk. Conagra first-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s earnings-call remarks emphasized ongoing efforts to improve brand execution, productivity and margins. Recent insider purchases may provide some confidence in management’s view of the valuation, although they are not a substitute for improving operating trends. Prepared earnings-call remarks
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell 1.4% year over year, with organic sales and volumes weakening, particularly in the Grocery & Snacks and Refrigerated & Frozen segments. Investors appear concerned that the profit beat was driven by cost control rather than stronger underlying demand. Sales decline overshadows profit beat
• Negative Sentiment: Reported operating profit declined 22.7%, gross profit dropped 3.4%, and free cash flow was negative $128 million. With approximately $7.4 billion of net debt, the weak cash generation reinforces concerns about leverage and the durability of Conagra’s turnaround. Conagra turnaround analysis

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a packaged food company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company develops, produces and markets branded food products sold through grocery stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience stores, foodservice operators and e-commerce channels.

Its portfolio includes frozen, refrigerated, grocery and snack products. Well-known brands include Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Banquet, Duncan Hines, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Hunt's, Chef Boyardee, Orville Redenbacher's, Vlasic, PAM and Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP.