Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 34,131 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 954,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,131 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.20% of Conagra Brands worth $27,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 7.7% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 5,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 84,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 39,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 26,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAG. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $32.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.16 and a 12-month high of $33.24. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.04.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.