S&P 500
7,582.20
+0.03%
Dow Jones
51,018.80
+0.58%
Nasdaq 100
30,344.40
+0.25%
Russell 2000
2,916.31
-0.54%
FTSE 100
10,378.60
-0.32%
Nikkei 225
66,231.90
+0.67%

Retail

ConAgra Debt Rating Cut at S&P

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

supermarket

Thinkstock
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has cut its ratings on debt for ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) from BBB to BBB- following the company’s announcement that it would finance its $6.8 billion acquisition of Ralcorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RAH) primarily with debt. S&P’s outlook for ConAgra is listed as “stable.”

The ratings cut leaves ConAgra’s debt just one notch above junk.

An S&P credit analyst said:

The downgrade for ConAgra reflects our belief that ConAgra will not be able to restore its credit measures, including adjusted debt to EBITDA to below 3x and funds from operations to total debt to nearly 30%, within two years.

The ratings firm estimates that ConAgra’s debt following the acquisition will total more than $10 billion, and other adjustments will push the total to about $11 billion.

ConAgra’s shares posted a 52-week high earlier this month, following better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares are trading down about 0.5% in the premarket this morning, at $29.06 in a 52-week range of $23.64 to $31.12.

Paul Ausick

DISCLOSURE:
INVESTMENTS ARE NOT FDIC INSURED • ARE NOT BANK GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, member FINRA(www.finra.org)/SIPC(www.sipc.org). Advisory services are offered by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Information about SoFi Wealth’s advisory operations, services, and fees is set forth in SoFi Wealth’s current Form ADV Part 2 (Brochure), a copy of which is available upon request and at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Probability of Member receiving $1,000 is a probability of 0.026%; If you don’t make a selection in 30 days, you’ll no longer qualify for the promo. Customer must fund their account with a minimum of $50.00 to qualify. Other fees, such as exchange fees, may apply. Please view our fee disclosure to view a full listing of fees. Investing in alternative investments and/or strategies may not be suitable for all investors and involves unique risks, including the risk of loss. An investor should consider their individual circumstances and any investment information, such as a prospectus, prior to investing. Interval Funds are illiquid instruments, the ability to trade on your timeline may be restricted. Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, Member FINRA(www.finra.org) /SIPC(www.sipc.org). There are limitations with fractional shares to consider before investing. During market hours fractional share orders are transmitted immediately in the order received. There may be system delays from receipt of your order until execution and market conditions may adversely impact execution prices. Outside of market hours orders are received on a not held basis and will be aggregated for each security then executed in the morning trade window of the next business day at market open. Share will be delivered at an average price received for executing the securities through a single batched order. Fractional shares may not be transferred to another firm. Fractional shares will be sold when a transfer or closure request is initiated. Please consider that selling securities is a taxable event. Options involve risks, including substantial risk of loss and the possibility an investor may lose the entire investment Before trading options please review the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options  Investing in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) involves substantial risk, including the risk of loss. Further, there are a variety of risk factors to consider when investing in an IPO, including but not limited to, unproven management, significant debt, and lack of operating history. For a comprehensive discussion of these risks please refer to SoFi Securities’ IPO Risk Disclosure Statement This should not be considered a recommendation to participate in IPOs and investors should carefully read the offering prospectus to determine whether an offering is consistent with their investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation. New offerings generally have high demand and there are a limited number of shares available for distribution to participants. Many customers may not be allocated shares and share allocations may be significantly smaller than the shares requested in the customer’s initial offer (Indication of Interest). For more information on the allocation process please visit IPO Allocation.
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Continue Reading

Paul Ausick |

ConAgra Boosts Outlook, Nears New Annual High

ThinkstockPackaged food giant ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) completed its $4.95 billion acquisition of private-label food maker Ralcorp late last…

ConAgra Dumps Private Label Business
Paul Ausick |

ConAgra Dumps Private Label Business

Monday morning ConAgra Foods announced that it has sold its private-label food business to Treehouse Foods for $2.7 billion in…

Paul Ausick |

Ralcorp Acquisition Hits ConAgra Results

ThinkstockConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) reported fiscal third-quarter 2013 results before markets opened this morning. The food processor and packager…

Jon C. Ogg |

ConAgra Misses on EPS, Ralcorp Acquisition (CAG, RAH, KFT, GIS, HNZ, SLE)

Food processing giant ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) reported first quarter 2012 earnings before the markets opened this morning. Even…

Trey Thoelcke |

ConAgra Lifts Guidance, Dividend on Q1 Earnings Surge

ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) this morning reported fiscal first quarter 2013 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41 on revenue…

David J. Phillips |

Poor Judgment by Ralcorp’s Board

Ralcorp’s (NYSE:RAH) board of directors unanimously rejected the latest merger proposal from ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), saying the $5.18 billion…

Douglas A. McIntyre |

Top Debt & Credit Rating Agency Actions (UTX, GR, GM, LSTZA, LSTZB, LCAPA, LCAPB, BRK-A, BRK-B, CAG, OWW, WWWW, CMI)

Today’s ratings actions are led-off by Moody’s affirmation of its ‘A2’ senior unsecured and ‘Prime-1’ short-term ratings on United Technologies…

Paul Ausick |

ConAgra Earnings Solid, Even Though Top Line Falls Short

ConAgra Foods reported mixed first-quarter fiscal 2016 results before markets opened Tuesday morning.

Paul Ausick |

ConAgra Earnings Okay, but Company Still Faces Headwinds

ConAgra Foods reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter 2014 earnings before markets opened Thursday morning. The food processor and packager also announced…

Top Gaining Stocks

Dell Technologies
DELL • Vol: 42,366,555
NetApp
NTAP • Vol: 15,911,807
ServiceNow
NOW • Vol: 68,243,561
IBM
IBM • Vol: 28,527,546
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
HPE • Vol: 86,996,387

Top Losing Stocks

Coterra Energy
CTRA • Vol: 73,319,495
Clorox
CLX • Vol: 4,744,001
ResMed
RMD • Vol: 3,526,686
Intel
INTC • Vol: 191,680,425
Skyworks Solutions
SWKS • Vol: 5,407,806