Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Expected to Announce Earnings of $0.64 Per Share

Wall Street brokerages expect Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) to post earnings per share of $0.64 for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Five analysts have made estimates for Conagra Brands’ earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $0.62 and the highest estimate coming in at $0.65. Conagra Brands posted earnings per share of $0.54 in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year over year growth rate of 18.5%. The company is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Conagra Brands will report full year earnings of $2.35 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.34 to $2.36. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the firm will report earnings of $2.57 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.53 to $2.68. Zacks’ EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of research firms that that provide coverage for Conagra Brands.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 7th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Consumer Edge lowered shares of Conagra Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 8th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

In other news, COO Darren Serrao sold 11,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.49, for a total transaction of $403,533.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,862,121.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Colleen Batcheler sold 72,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total transaction of $2,610,729.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,761,182.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,580 shares of company stock worth $3,952,793. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 60.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. AGF Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.21% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $35.67 on Friday. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $30.06 and a 52-week high of $39.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.03 and a 200 day moving average of $33.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.83.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 58.14%.

About Conagra Brands (Get Rating)

Conagra Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company in North America. The company operates through Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice segments. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products in various retail channels in the United States.

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