Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Sanford C. Bernstein

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was downgraded by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $12.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.74 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.38 and a 200 day moving average of $16.55. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $12.55 and a fifty-two week high of $22.81.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.15%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, Director John J. Mulligan acquired 17,500 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.31 per share, with a total value of $250,425.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,617.68. This trade represents a 542.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard H. Lenny acquired 25,000 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 229,340 shares in the company, valued at $3,288,735.60. This trade represents a 12.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 10,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. All Terrain Financial Advisors LLC now owns 176,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.5% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 136,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 17,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.