Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Raises Position in Conagra Brands $CAG

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,125,901 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,554,725 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $140,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CAG shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $14.67.

Conagra Brands News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Conagra Brands this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan cut its price target on Conagra Brands to $14 from $17, but that still implies modest upside from the current share price, suggesting some analysts see room for a rebound. Conagra Brands (CAG) Valuation Check After Guidance Cut And Analyst Downgrades
• Positive Sentiment: Articles highlighting high-dividend consumer staples names may support interest in Conagra as an income stock, which can help limit downside in a defensive market. Wall Street’s most accurate analysts give their take on 3 consumer staples stocks delivering high-dividend yields
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary notes that analyst sentiment on Conagra is mixed, with conflicting views rather than a clear consensus on the stock. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Consumer Goods Companies: Conagra Brands (CAG) and Stride (LRN)
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an underperform rating and cut its price target to $12 from $16, signaling concern about Conagra’s outlook after recent guidance pressure. Conagra Brands (CAG) Faces Mounting Challenges as Bernstein Cuts Rating and Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also lowered its target to $13 from $15 and maintained an equal weight rating, adding to the wave of cautious analyst revisions. Morgan Stanley Adjusts Conagra Brands Price Target to 13 From 15

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard H. Lenny bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 229,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,288,735.60. The trade was a 12.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John J. Mulligan bought 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.31 per share, with a total value of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,617.68. This represents a 542.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $13.03 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a PE ratio of -130.24 and a beta of -0.02. Conagra Brands has a 1 year low of $12.53 and a 1 year high of $22.58.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.15% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.7%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -1,400.00%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.