Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 806,737 Shares of Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management increased its Conagra Brands stake by 70.1%, purchasing 806,737 additional shares to hold 1.96 million shares valued at approximately $26.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 83.75% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious, with Conagra receiving a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $14.07; several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Conagra reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, slightly above expectations, while revenue rose 3.6% year over year to $2.88 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.175, equivalent to a 4.2% annualized yield.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 70.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,958,114 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 806,737 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.41% of Conagra Brands worth $26,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 661,029 shares of the company's stock worth $11,442,000 after purchasing an additional 131,287 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,125,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,725 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $2,415,000. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $1,367,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 785,989 shares of the company's stock worth $13,634,000 after buying an additional 157,423 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $16.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.16 and a beta of -0.03. Conagra Brands has a 12 month low of $12.53 and a 12 month high of $20.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.31.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is presently -17.50%.

Conagra Brands Profile

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra's product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender's and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt's sauces, Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.

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