Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Conagra Brands Call Options (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 99,242 call options on the company. This is an increase of 905% compared to the typical volume of 9,873 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Melissa C. Napier sold 13,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.19, for a total transaction of $223,659.09. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Optas LLC raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 101.0% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 26,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 13,254 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 701.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 8,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 7,017 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 94.5% in the fourth quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 19,236 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 128,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 31,777 shares during the period. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CAG shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $18.71.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $17.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -81.61 and a beta of -0.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.33 and its 200 day moving average is $18.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.89. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $15.96 and a fifty-two week high of $28.51.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.