Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,811 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,811 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Conagra Brands by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,077,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,624,000 after buying an additional 3,133,200 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,400,000 after buying an additional 2,242,186 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at about $65,932,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,945 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Conagra Brands stock opened at $26.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $33.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 137.25%.

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.