Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Grows Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 106.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,678 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,910 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Conagra Brands by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,085,000 after purchasing an additional 62,187 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Conagra Brands by 110.8% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 36,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 19,329 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,048,000 after purchasing an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $25.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.17. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.06 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The company has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.29.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.52%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 137.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.56.

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.