Bell Bank Trims Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bell Bank lowered its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 160,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,538 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $5,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 6,610 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 4.1% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 502,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,906,000 after acquiring an additional 16,003 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 575,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,066,000 after acquiring an additional 70,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 34,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CAG shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CAG opened at $27.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.09. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.62 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 135.92%.

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.