Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Stock Rating Lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was downgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $21.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $26.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 6.25% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on CAG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.60.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $22.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.14. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $21.98 and a 12-month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,403,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604,893 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,859,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,306,000 after buying an additional 698,630 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,745,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,096,000 after buying an additional 231,477 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Conagra Brands by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,162,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,686,000 after buying an additional 2,702,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,135,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.