Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $110.70 Million in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,989,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $110,704,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.84% of Conagra Brands as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $168,877,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,077,000 shares of the company's stock worth $197,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,200 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company's stock worth $796,229,000 after buying an additional 1,691,945 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,798,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,631,671,000 after buying an additional 1,132,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,927,141 shares of the company's stock worth $53,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered 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 Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,544,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,098,628. The stock has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is 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.