Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 618,096 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,285,579 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 2.57% of Conagra Brands worth $341,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at $201,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 185,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,331 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 212,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,046,000 after purchasing an additional 29,999 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 145,750 shares of the company's stock worth $4,124,000 after buying an additional 25,559 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 9.3% during the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,731 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE CAG traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.88. 4,625,591 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,887,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company's 50-day moving average is $27.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.41. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $26.21 and a one year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas raised Conagra Brands to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 Wednesday, December 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.56.

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.