Analysts Set Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Target Price at $31.63

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.63.

CAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CAG. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871,238 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 grew its position in Conagra Brands by 148.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 3.5% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $29.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $26.62 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.06 and its 200 day moving average is $30.25. The company has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 135.92%.

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.