Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $26.12 and last traded at $26.22, with a volume of 1150377 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAG. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas raised Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,048,000 after acquiring an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 573,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is 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.