Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The company traded as low as $16.54 and last traded at $16.4260, with a volume of 2711609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.85.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CAG. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $19.00.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, SVP Melissa C. Napier sold 13,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.19, for a total value of $223,659.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,369,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,256,241,000 after purchasing an additional 966,031 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,202,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,363,000 after acquiring an additional 588,435 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 25.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,587,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173,767 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,674,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,672,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,870,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,405,000 after acquiring an additional 193,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 3.1%

The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of -75.39 and a beta of -0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.50.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders 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 8.4%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -636.36%.

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.