Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $19.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.3%

Conagra Brands stock opened at $17.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $28.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.72. The company has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -79.37 and a beta of -0.01.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.87% and a positive return on equity of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -636.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Conagra Brands

In other news, SVP Melissa C. Napier sold 13,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.19, for a total transaction of $223,659.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $172,475,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Conagra Brands by 239.6% in the third 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 raised its position in Conagra Brands by 245.5% in the third 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 lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 216.2% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 241.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 5,915,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

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.