Conagra Brands Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 13,957 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 35% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,312 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CAG. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $19.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of Conagra Brands stock traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $16.98. 11,100,961 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,872,888. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.13. The stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.06 and a beta of -0.02. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $15.96 and a fifty-two week high of $27.68.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -636.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $172,475,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 239.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,347,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,837,000 after acquiring an additional 5,889,542 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 245.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,734,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,611,000 after acquiring an additional 5,495,503 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 216.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,459,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,100,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 241.9% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 5,915,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,313,000 after acquiring an additional 4,185,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.