Clarius Group LLC Trims Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Clarius Group LLC cut its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,947 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,831,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 76,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,185,000 after buying an additional 16,700 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 32.8% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 132,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,760,000 after purchasing an additional 32,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 29,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 4,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $25.83 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.35 and a 1-year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.26%.

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.