Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys New Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CAG. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 20.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871,238 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,980,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,069,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 523.8% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,446,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,117,000 after buying an additional 1,214,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 17.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,602,000 after acquiring an additional 633,794 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG opened at $32.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.05. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 191.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands 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.