West Family Investments Inc. Buys Shares of 39,089 Conagra Brands $CAG

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 39,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $157,000. Essential Partners LLC grew its position in Conagra Brands by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at about $313,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $723,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $385,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAG. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $16.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $12.53 and a 52-week high of $20.32. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.06 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.39 and a 200 day moving average of $15.36.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.50%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.