Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Acquires 59,242 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 818,384 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,242 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned approximately 0.17% of Conagra Brands worth $22,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of CAG stock opened at $25.31 on Tuesday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.18 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.28.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.53%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.26%.

Conagra Brands 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.