Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $21.81 and last traded at $21.84, with a volume of 1373744 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CAG shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Bank of America cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.70.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.14.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.28%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,793,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,776,000 after acquiring an additional 914,820 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $558,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,035,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 63,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,034,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.