Swedbank AB Purchases 159,077 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 833,542 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 159,077 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $23,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Conagra Brands by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 123,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,430,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth $238,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 31,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,165 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 7,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IRON Financial LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 24,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on CAG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.06 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 137.26%.

About Conagra Brands

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.