Donoghue Forlines LLC Takes $1.59 Million Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Donoghue Forlines LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 57,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Courier Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.3% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 27,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 52,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CAG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Bank of America cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $25.14 and a one year high of $33.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.19. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.