Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 316.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,763 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,380 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 84,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 65,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 36.2% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CAG shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.20.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $26.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.47. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.25%.

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.