Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Grows Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,898 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,700 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CAG. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 144.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $32.31 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 company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.09. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.16 and a 52 week high of $33.24.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands 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.