Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Receives Neutral Rating from BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has a $16.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $19.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Conagra Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $16.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $15.52 on Thursday. Conagra Brands has a one year low of $15.03 and a one year high of $26.33. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -155.21 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.63.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.15% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently -1,400.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CAG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth $145,656,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 239.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,347,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,837,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889,542 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 245.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,734,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,495,503 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 216.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,459,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 241.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 5,915,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185,486 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.