Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by BNP Paribas

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was upgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $29.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Conagra Brands has a 1 year low of $25.16 and a 1 year high of $33.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 920,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,376,000 after buying an additional 60,636 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 14,578 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 86,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 71,260 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $880,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.