Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Stock Price Down 4.4%

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)’s share price was down 4.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $31.27 and last traded at $31.35. Approximately 1,848,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 4,632,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CAG shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.90.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.41, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 144.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Security National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.