BNP Paribas Upgrades Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) to Strong-Buy

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $29.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $25.16 and a 12-month high of $33.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.28 and its 200-day moving average is $30.28.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 191.78%.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after buying an additional 1,871,238 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 148.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,209,000 after purchasing an additional 78,487 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.