LSV Asset Management Sells 554,820 Shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management reduced its stake in Conagra Brands by 7.7%, selling 554,820 shares and leaving it with a total of 6,619,391 shares valued at approximately $176.5 million.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their positions in Conagra Brands, with KBC Group NV seeing a dramatic 560.1% increase in its stake during the first quarter.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.56 per share, missing the consensus estimate and noted a 4.3% year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue.

LSV Asset Management cut its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,619,391 shares of the company's stock after selling 554,820 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 1.39% of Conagra Brands worth $176,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,704,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,135,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,000 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,664,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,883 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,161,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $309,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 560.1% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,042,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,297 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CAG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.58.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $18.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $18.18 and a twelve month high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.11. The company's fifty day moving average is $20.79 and its 200 day moving average is $23.64.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2,781,800 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Conagra Brands's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. Conagra Brands's payout ratio is presently 58.58%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.

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 and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.