D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases New Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 22,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,798,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,631,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,745,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,096,000 after purchasing an additional 231,477 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Conagra Brands by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,161,355 shares of the company's stock worth $309,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,745,319 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $168,877,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,664,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928,883 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.2%

CAG traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $22.66. 6,821,580 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,418,950. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock's 50-day moving average is $24.49 and its 200 day moving average is $25.77. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.98 and a 12 month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.88%.

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.