Paralel Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Paralel Advisors LLC raised its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,708 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,696 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 78,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $16,588,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 78,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 16,865 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,161,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 909,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,312 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CAG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $25.79. 146,140 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,093,441. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 205.88%.

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.