Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 442,471 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,806 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.09% of Conagra Brands worth $12,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,945 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,048,000 after purchasing an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,180,000 after purchasing an additional 196,100 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,571,000 after purchasing an additional 122,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG opened at $25.45 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $12.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.67.

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.