Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 1,794 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,903 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,794 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 143.3% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Conagra Brands news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total transaction of $469,034.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,439,523.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.3 %

CAG stock opened at $28.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.26. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $34.38.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 70.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on CAG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

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.