Qtron Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Qtron Investments LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Conagra Brands by 62.4%, selling 13,003 shares and leaving it with 7,836 shares valued at approximately $209,000.
• Conagra Brands reported a Q2 earnings per share of $0.56, falling short of analyst expectations of $0.61, with a revenue decline of 4.3% year-over-year.
• The company is set to pay a $0.35 quarterly dividend on August 28th, representing an annualized yield of 7.3% and a payout ratio of 58.58%.

Qtron Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 62.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,836 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,003 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 176.5% during the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 37,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 60,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 17,748 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 223,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,958,000 after buying an additional 28,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 98.2% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 317,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,497,000 after buying an additional 157,486 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CAG. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.17.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:CAG traded up $0.3730 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.6730. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,181,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,600,031. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $19.82 and a 200-day moving average of $22.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.08. 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 12-month low of $18.18 and a 12-month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.88 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 9.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.58%.

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.