Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Cut to “Underperform” at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $20.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $27.00.

CAG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Conagra Brands from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.70.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 3.3%

CAG stock opened at $21.56 on Thursday. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $21.51 and a 52-week high of $33.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.14.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 205.88%.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 82.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 235.2% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.