Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 26.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,497,014 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 310,386 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $44,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 153,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,395,000 after buying an additional 100,141 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 859,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,572,000 after purchasing an additional 469,421 shares in the last quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $7,690,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Conagra Brands by 368.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,016,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,126,000 after purchasing an additional 799,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 37.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,675,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,294,000 after buying an additional 2,619,372 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CAG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,112,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,140,211. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $38.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.38.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.25% and a net margin of 7.86%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.35%.

About Conagra Brands

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.