Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CAG. State Street Corp increased its position in Conagra Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,945 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,048,000 after buying an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,180,000 after buying an additional 196,100 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,495,000 after buying an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,571,000 after acquiring an additional 122,590 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CAG. Bank of America cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of CAG stock opened at $25.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.06 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.15.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.26%.

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.