Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Has $163.54 Million Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Conagra Brands by 3.0%, selling 188,302 shares and holding 6,132,079 shares, worth approximately $163.5 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings missed expectations, reporting $0.56 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $0.61, and a revenue of $2.78 billion, falling short of the projected $2.88 billion.
• Conagra Brands recently announced a dividend of $0.35 per share to be paid on August 28th, reflecting a 7.1% annual dividend yield.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,132,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 188,302 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 1.28% of Conagra Brands worth $163,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAG. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,548 shares of the company's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 33.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC now owns 35,860 shares of the company's stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 29,927 shares of the company's stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.18. 11,844,728 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,061,591. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.08. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $18.18 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $19.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.87.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $2,781,800 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 9.92%.The firm's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America cut Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price objective on Conagra Brands and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.17.

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.