Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Stock Price

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CAG. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:CAG opened at $25.75 on Friday. Conagra Brands has a 1 year low of $25.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.15.

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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 106.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,077,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,624,000 after buying an additional 3,133,200 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the third quarter worth $65,932,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at $46,990,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.