Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Stock Holdings Lifted by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,883 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Conagra Brands by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 23,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Conagra Brands by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 191,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after purchasing an additional 62,235 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 136,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after purchasing an additional 6,983 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its position in Conagra Brands by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 117,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,258,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Conagra Brands by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,060,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,439,000 after purchasing an additional 100,892 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on CAG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.80.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $23.11 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.78 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.18.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.88%.

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.