MQS Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 12,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,473,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 74.8% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 21,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 9,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

CAG opened at $32.40 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.98. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.16 and a 52-week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.49 billion, a PE ratio of 44.38, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CAG shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.