Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Trading Up 4.9% – Time to Buy?

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) shot up 4.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.00 and last traded at $27.25. 1,022,694 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 5,588,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CAG. Barclays dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 4.9 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.82 and a 200 day moving average of $28.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.18.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 137.25%.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 65.4% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

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.