Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,669,768 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 463,256 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.35% of Conagra Brands worth $46,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $168,877,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $110,704,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $796,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,945 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,798,952 shares of the company's stock worth $1,631,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 114.5% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,927,141 shares of the company's stock worth $53,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,631 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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 Friday, December 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Nine investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CAG traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.97. 7,994,201 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,128,605. The company has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.14.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.88%.

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.