New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $6,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,085,000 after acquiring an additional 62,187 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 110.8% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 36,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 19,329 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 78,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 22,790 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG stock opened at $25.56 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.28. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.25%.

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.