Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Cuts Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lessened its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,921 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,274 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAG. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,675,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,294,000 after buying an additional 2,619,372 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,171,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,380 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,748,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,986 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,426,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,249 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 401.4% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,519,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.56. The stock had a trading volume of 6,865,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,120,700. The firm has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.42. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $38.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.07 and a 200-day moving average of $28.63.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 14.25% and a net margin of 7.86%. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 70.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CAG. Citigroup upped their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

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.