Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Shares Purchased by Argyle Capital Management LLC

Argyle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,745 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Conagra Brands by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Conagra Brands by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 84,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG opened at $25.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.28.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 137.25%.

About Conagra Brands

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.