Creative Planning Acquires 4,914 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Creative Planning increased its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 155,574 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,914 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $4,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CAG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 920,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,376,000 after buying an additional 60,636 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 14,578 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 86,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 71,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 663.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 436,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,516,000 after purchasing an additional 379,473 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAG has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 2.4 %

CAG stock opened at $29.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.21, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.