Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 18.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,045,294 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 163,600 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.22% of Conagra Brands worth $29,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,980,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,069,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 523.8% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,446,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,117,000 after buying an additional 1,214,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Conagra Brands by 17.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after acquiring an additional 633,794 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CAG shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG stock opened at $32.30 on Monday. 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 50 day moving average price of $30.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.05. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.16 and a 52-week high of $33.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.25, 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, 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 business had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 191.78%.

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.