Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 93,200 Shares of Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board significantly increased its stake in Conagra Brands by acquiring an additional 93,200 shares, bringing its total holdings to 95,200 shares valued at approximately $2.54 million.
• Analysts have recently downgraded Conagra Brands’ stock ratings, with price targets being reduced to as low as $20.00, reflecting cautious sentiment about the company's performance.
• Conagra Brands declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 7.3%, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders despite recent earnings challenges.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 4,660.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,200 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 93,200 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.2% during the first quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 82.3% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 33.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 35,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.8% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 29,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.17.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $19.20 on Thursday. Conagra Brands has a one year low of $18.18 and a one year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.07.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 30th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is 58.58%.

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.

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