Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 49,727 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 73,908 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,727 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 833,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,131,000 after acquiring an additional 159,077 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of 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 bought a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 31,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,165 shares during the period. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 7,531 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CAG stock opened at $26.30 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.08. The company has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.29.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued 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. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.32%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target 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. Citigroup dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.

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.