State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 7.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 55,624 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,775 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 237.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 76,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after buying an additional 54,195 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 261.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 147,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 106,368 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the first quarter worth $7,429,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 573.4% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 32,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at $3,829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

CAG opened at $28.97 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.62 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.23. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 135.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.63.

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.