Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 24,103 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 6.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 397,297 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,103 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $12,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands during the third quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,495,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,829,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,268,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at approximately $967,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CAG shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG opened at $27.46 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.34. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.92%.

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.