Conagra Brands, Inc. (CAG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.35 on November 27th

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 1st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share on Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st.

Conagra Brands has raised its dividend by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. Conagra Brands has a payout ratio of 51.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Conagra Brands to earn $2.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.9%.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $30.08 on Thursday. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $14.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.26.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAG. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

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.