Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.61 Billion Position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.7%, owning approximately 12.65% of the company, valued at $1.61 billion after acquiring over 1.6 million additional shares in the first quarter.
• Conagra Brands reported a Q2 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.56, missing estimates by $0.05, with a revenue of $2.78 billion which also fell short of expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, representing a dividend yield of 7.3%, to be paid on August 28th, with an ex-dividend date set for July 30th.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,403,845 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,604,893 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.65% of Conagra Brands worth $1,610,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 82.3% in 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 increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 235.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group dropped 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.58.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE CAG traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.53. 12,511,575 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,839,086. Conagra Brands has a 12 month low of $18.18 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.17, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.31.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.58%.

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.