Invesco Ltd. Grows Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,161,355 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,745,319 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 2.34% of Conagra Brands worth $309,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,798,952 shares of the company's stock worth $1,631,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,839 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company's stock worth $341,048,000 after buying an additional 618,096 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,745,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,096,000 after buying an additional 231,477 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $168,877,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,462,414 shares of the company's stock worth $151,582,000 after acquiring an additional 642,806 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG traded down $0.51 on Tuesday, reaching $25.68. 960,590 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,116,157. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $33.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $25.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.06.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 205.88%.

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.