Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Eighteen analysts give Conagra a consensus recommendation of Reduce (4 sell, 13 hold, 1 buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $15.80.
• Two directors—Richard H. Lenny and John J. Mulligan—bought 25,000 and 17,500 shares respectively on April 14 at about $14.34 and $14.31, substantially increasing their stakes.
• Conagra declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 (annualized $1.40), a 9.9% yield with an ex‑dividend date of April 30, while reporting a slight EPS miss ($0.39 vs. $0.40) and a negative net margin.

Shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.80.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAG. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Conagra Brands news, Director Richard H. Lenny purchased 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $358,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 229,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,288,735.60. This represents a 12.23% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John J. Mulligan purchased 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.31 per share, for a total transaction of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,728 shares in the company, valued at $296,617.68. This represents a 542.13% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,656,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 239.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,347,163 shares of the company's stock worth $152,837,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889,542 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 245.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,734,061 shares of the company's stock worth $141,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,495,503 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 216.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,459,654 shares of the company's stock worth $135,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 241.9% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 5,915,490 shares of the company's stock worth $108,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185,486 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 1.7%

CAG opened at $14.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -141.64 and a beta of 0.04. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $14.04 and a twelve month high of $25.12. The company's 50-day moving average price is $16.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.15%. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently -1,400.00%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra's product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender's and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt's sauces, Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.