Financial Survey: Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) and Premier Foods (OTCMKTS:PRRFY)

Premier Foods (OTCMKTS:PRRFY) and Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) are both mid-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Premier Foods and Conagra Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Premier Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Conagra Brands	-0.87%	10.59%	4.46%

Dividends

Premier Foods pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Conagra Brands pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.1%. Conagra Brands pays out -636.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Conagra Brands has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Conagra Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Premier Foods and Conagra Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Premier Foods	$1.45 billion	1.40	$159.36 million	N/A	N/A
Conagra Brands	$11.61 billion	0.71	$1.15 billion	($0.22)	-78.59

Conagra Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Premier Foods.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

83.8% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Conagra Brands shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Premier Foods and Conagra Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Premier Foods	0	1	0	0	2.00
Conagra Brands	4	11	1	0	1.81

Conagra Brands has a consensus target price of $18.71, suggesting a potential upside of 8.24%. Given Conagra Brands’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Conagra Brands is more favorable than Premier Foods.

Risk and Volatility

Premier Foods has a beta of 0.46, indicating that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Conagra Brands has a beta of -0.01, indicating that its stock price is 101% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Conagra Brands beats Premier Foods on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Premier Foods

Premier Foods plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes branded and own label food products in the United Kingdom, other European countries, and internationally. The company operates through Grocery, Sweet Treats, and international segments. It offers a portfolio of product categories, including flavorings and seasonings under the Bisto, OXO, Paxo, and Saxa brands; cooking sauces and accompaniments under the Sharwood's, Loyd Grossman, Spice Tailor and Homepride brands; quick meals, snacks, and soups under the Batchelors and Smash brands; ambient desserts under the Ambrosia, Bird's, and Angel Delight brands; and ambient cakes under the Mr Kipling and Cadbury brands. The company also provides dumplings under the Atora brand name; plain flour under the Be-Ro brand; dried milk under the Marvel brand name; plain and self-raising flour under the McDougalls brand; and plant based food under the Plantastic brand name. It offers its products through supermarkets, discounters, convenience stores, and wholesale and food service facilities, as well as through e-commerce channels. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Saint Albans, the United Kingdom.

About Conagra Brands

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. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Marie Callender's, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, Angie's, BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.