Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,627,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 937,222 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 4.94% of Conagra Brands worth $700,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 63,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 15.7% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 12,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 6.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 881,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,133,000 after purchasing an additional 55,692 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 33.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.18.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total value of $469,034.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 113,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,523.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.4 %

CAG traded up $0.41 on Friday, hitting $29.94. 3,518,765 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,617,913. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.21 and its 200-day moving average is $29.27. The company has a market cap of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.01, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $33.39.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 191.78%.

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.