Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Shares in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CAG. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.72. 2,763,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,022,208. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.83. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.16 and a 52 week high of $38.04.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 70.35%.

Conagra Brands Company 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.