Insider Selling: Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) COO Sells $1,211,600.00 in Stock

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CAG opened at $30.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $25.16 and a one year high of $31.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 191.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Conagra Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871,238 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $140,473,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,602,000 after acquiring an additional 633,794 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,857,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,888,000 after acquiring an additional 127,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 148.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,513,726 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CAG shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.45.

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.