Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Invests $3.83 Million in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 117,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,829,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 237.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 76,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 54,195 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 261.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 147,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after buying an additional 106,368 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the first quarter valued at about $7,429,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 573.4% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 32,396 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CAG. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CAG opened at $29.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.62 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.78%.

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.