Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $13.80 Million Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 465,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,718 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $13,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 188.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Conagra Brands by 316.6% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 154,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,414,000 after purchasing an additional 117,042 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 517,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,840,000 after purchasing an additional 37,149 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Conagra Brands by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 815,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,385,000 after purchasing an additional 88,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Conagra Brands by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 71,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 26,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total value of $469,034.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,439,523.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CAG traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $29.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,516,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,707,358. The company has a market cap of $14.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.16 and a 52 week high of $33.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.31 and a 200 day moving average of $29.25.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 191.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAG. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.18.

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.