Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $26.27 and last traded at $26.44, with a volume of 2636744 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CAG. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.03.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.24%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,945 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,180,000 after buying an additional 196,100 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,004,000 after buying an additional 1,871,238 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,604,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,571,000 after acquiring an additional 122,590 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.