Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Raises Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 818,384 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 59,242 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS owned about 0.17% of Conagra Brands worth $22,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Creative Planning grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 165,064 shares of the company's stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 9,490 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,512 shares of the company's stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 266.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,824 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 5,689 shares during the last quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee now owns 20,560 shares of the company's stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CAG shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.78.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of CAG traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,589,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,840,252. 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 50-day simple moving average of $26.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.28. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. Conagra Brands's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 137.26%.

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.