Conagra Brands price target lowered to $21 from $25 at Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Alexia Howard lowered the firm’s price target on Conagra Brands (CAG) to $21 from $25 and keeps a Market Perform rating on the shares. The firm notes that Conagra’s leadership team is doubling down on returning to volume growth as a priority for FY26 and as a result is reinvesting in levers to achieve this, which has led to guidance on EPS that is 23% below consensus estimates. Understandably some of these are also tariffs and protein/labor inflation, stranded costs from recent divestments, the need to upgrade the supply chain given recent mishaps in frozen chicken and vegetables, rebased incentive comp and adverse FX. But Bernstein says it can’t help but also believe that demand curves are shifting in ways that are going to require winning trust back among lapsed consumers.