Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 40,949 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 308.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,244 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,949 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871,238 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,473,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,209,000 after purchasing an additional 78,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 26.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,889,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,694,000 after purchasing an additional 392,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $32.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.38, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.16 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.71 and a 200 day moving average of $29.98.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 191.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.