Vise Technologies Inc. Raises Stock Position in Conagra Brands $CAG

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 93.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,623 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,928 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,202,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,363,000 after buying an additional 588,435 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,587,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,414,000 after buying an additional 3,173,767 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,674,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,672,000 after buying an additional 2,618,647 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,130,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,113,000 after buying an additional 1,984,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $145,656,000. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard H. Lenny bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $358,500.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John J. Mulligan bought 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.31 per share, for a total transaction of $250,425.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,617.68. This trade represents a 542.13% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.67.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG opened at $13.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.44 and a beta of -0.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.45. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $12.53 and a 52-week high of $22.58.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.15%. Conagra Brands’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.7%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,400.00%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.