Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Grows Stock Position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,968 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,875 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $6,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 82.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 235.2% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 86.1% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,491 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $18.74. The stock had a trading volume of 14,157,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,145,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.11. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $18.68 and a 12-month high of $33.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.13.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $2,781,800 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Conagra Brands's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.58.

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.