Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Short Interest Up 7.2% in June

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,970,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the May 31st total of 13,960,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $28.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.80 and a 200-day moving average of $29.23. The firm has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 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. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $25.16 and a twelve month high of $33.76.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.35%.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In related news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total value of $469,034.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 113,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,523.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $140,473,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 14.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,171,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,580,000 after buying an additional 1,737,380 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth about $47,980,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,426,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,069,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Conagra Brands Company 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.