Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 8,102 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 62.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,060 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,102 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 191,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,255,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 156,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 92,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 11,265 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 161,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 30,263 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 3,601 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CAG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Conagra Brands stock opened at $30.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.16 and a 12-month high of $37.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.35%.

Conagra Brands 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.