Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts hold a “Reduce” consensus on Conagra Brands, with six sell ratings, eleven holds and one buy among 18 firms. The average 12-month price target is $14.10, below the reported share price of $14.81.
• Conagra’s latest quarterly results slightly exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.47 versus the $0.46 consensus, while revenue rose 3.6% year over year to $2.88 billion but narrowly missed estimates.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, or $0.70 annually, representing a 4.7% yield. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 83.75% of the stock.

Shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.10.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CAG. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Conagra Brands from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altar Rock LLC bought a new position in Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $155,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,097,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 122,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 15,373 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $156,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 2.1%

CAG opened at $14.81 on Tuesday. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $12.53 and a 1-year high of $20.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $15.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of -3.70 and a beta of -0.01.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.50%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a packaged food company that develops, manufactures and markets branded and private-label food products primarily in North America. Its portfolio spans frozen meals and sides, snacks, shelf-stable foods, condiments, refrigerated foods and cooking products, serving retail grocery, foodservice and other distribution channels.

Its well-known brands include Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Banquet, Marie Callender's, Duncan Hines, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Vlasic, Hunt's and PAM.

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