Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Short Interest Up 5.5% in August

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,230,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the August 15th total of 14,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.78.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $32.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.92. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.66, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 191.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 144.4% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Security National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.