Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st.

Conagra Brands has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. Conagra Brands has a dividend payout ratio of 51.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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

CAG opened at $32.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.27. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $25.16 and a twelve month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.10.

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 is available through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.