B&G Foods downgraded to Underweight at Piper as retail sales trends lag

Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery downgraded B&G Foods to Underweight from Neutral with a price target of $8, down from $14, telling investors that U.S. measured retail sales trends are running behind the firm’s expectations for Q3. Retail sales declines continue to accelerate, the firm recognizes risk from trade inventory de-loading as volume declines could drive resets to retailer inventories and potentially shelf space allocations and the company faces EPS dilution from higher interest expense and share count dilution, the analyst tells investors.