First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 42.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,171,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,380 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,675,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,294,000 after buying an additional 2,619,372 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,426,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,249 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,002,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,585,000 after acquiring an additional 220,024 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 75.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,748,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,986 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CAG shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE CAG opened at $30.59 on Monday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $38.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.50 and its 200 day moving average is $28.80.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.35%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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