First Trust Advisors LP Sells 508,412 Shares of Conagra Brands $CAG

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,516,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 508,412 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.94% of Conagra Brands worth $70,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CAG. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 156.9% in the 1st quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAG has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $14.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.69 and a beta of -0.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.61. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $12.53 and a twelve month high of $20.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently -35.00%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.