On Friday, Standard & Poor's lowered its corporate credit rating for ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG). The ratings firm lowered CAG's rating to "BBB" from "BBB+" and removed all ratings on the company from CreditWatch with negative implications, attributing the move to weak credit and high operating costs.
S&P noted that higher operating costs have hurt margins, particularly in CAG's consumer foods segment. This part of CAG's business brought in 64% of the firm's fiscal 2008 revenue.
S&P believes that CAG will "modestly improve" credit measures from current levels during the next two years. S&P could revise CAG's outlook to negative if the firm becomes more aggressive in its financial policy. Currently, CAG's outlook is stable.
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