Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 49.5%, owning over 8.16 million shares valued at $217.7 million as of the latest report.
• Conagra Brands reported disappointing earnings, with $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing estimates by $0.05, and a 4.3% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 7.4%, with a payout ratio of 58.58%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 49.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,162,251 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,702,407 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.71% of Conagra Brands worth $217,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the first quarter worth $26,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 82.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 235.2% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CAG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Bank of America cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group reduced 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 note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target 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 given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.17.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

CAG traded up $0.3730 on Friday, hitting $19.6730. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,181,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,600,031. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $19.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.08. Conagra Brands has a 12 month low of $18.18 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.05). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $2,781,800 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is currently 58.58%.

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.