Legal & General Group Plc Has $17.57 Million Stake in Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Conagra Brands stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 1,014,869 shares valued at about $17.57 million.
• Analyst sentiment on Conagra remains weak: several firms lowered price targets or ratings, and the stock’s consensus rating is currently "Reduce" with a target price of $15.47.
• Conagra is trading near its 52-week low at $13.12 and recently reported mixed results, missing EPS expectations while revenue came in slightly above estimates; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, implying a very high yield.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,014,869 shares of the company's stock after selling 102,143 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.21% of Conagra Brands worth $17,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 661,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,442,000 after buying an additional 131,287 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,415,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 153.4% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 406,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,897,000 after buying an additional 246,178 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,021,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,323,000 after buying an additional 408,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 238.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 205,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,771,000 after buying an additional 145,191 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Conagra Brands from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Conagra Brands from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $15.47.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $13.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's 50 day moving average is $14.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.61. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.14 and a beta of -0.02. Conagra Brands has a 12 month low of $13.10 and a 12 month high of $22.81.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.15% and a negative net margin of 0.39%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is currently -1,400.00%.

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, Director Richard H. Lenny purchased 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $358,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 229,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,288,735.60. This represents a 12.23% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John J. Mulligan acquired 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.31 per share, for a total transaction of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $296,617.68. This trade represents a 542.13% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CAG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.