National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,144 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,683 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,420,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,272 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Conagra Brands by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,984,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,024,000 after buying an additional 280,003 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,875,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,936,000 after buying an additional 971,962 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 246.5% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,446,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,695,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc CT boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc CT now owns 3,255,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,169,000 after acquiring an additional 585,711 shares in the last quarter. 83.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Emanuel Chirico bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.06 per share, for a total transaction of $1,021,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 40,788 shares in the company, valued at $1,389,239.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.67.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Conagra Brands stock opened at $34.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.06 and a 52-week high of $36.97.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 14th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.70% and a return on equity of 12.99%. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 2nd. This is a boost from Conagra Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.74%.

Conagra Brands Profile

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Conagra Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company in North America. The company operates through Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice segments. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products in various retail channels in the United States.