Conagra Brands $CAG Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. sold 172,489 shares of Conagra Brands, reducing its stake by 39% during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 269,982 shares valued at approximately $7.2 million.
• Conagra Brands reported quarterly earnings of $0.56 per share, missing estimates by $0.05 and showing a 4.3% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, providing a 7.1% yield for shareholders with an ex-dividend date of July 30th.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,982 shares of the company's stock after selling 172,489 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.06% of Conagra Brands worth $7,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CAG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,403,845 shares of the company's stock worth $1,610,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,893 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,859,985 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,306,000 after purchasing an additional 698,630 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,162,251 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702,407 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,135,000 shares of the company's stock worth $225,746,000 after buying an additional 2,058,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 233.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,985,256 shares of the company's stock worth $159,625,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191,555 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

NYSE CAG traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $19.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,239,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,047,888. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.08. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $19.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.81. Conagra Brands has a 12 month low of $18.18 and a 12 month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 9.92%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 30th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CAG. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.17.

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.