Conagra Brands Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 13,957 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 10,312 put options.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 844.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 249.0% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CAG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $18.71.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of CAG traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.56. 12,431,048 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,415,409. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $15.96 and a 52 week high of $27.68. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of -75.25 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.11.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.700-1.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.