Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Conagra Brands $CAG

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Conagra by 0.2% in Q4, selling 115,521 shares but still holds 59,498,126 shares (about 12.44%) valued at roughly $1.03 billion.
• Company insiders bought shares on April 14 — Director John J. Mulligan acquired 17,500 shares and Director Richard H. Lenny added 25,000 shares — signaling insider buying despite recent weakness.
• Analysts are largely cautious with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Reduce" and a $15.80 target after multiple price-target cuts, while Conagra announced a quarterly dividend yielding about 10%.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,498,126 shares of the company's stock after selling 115,521 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.44% of Conagra Brands worth $1,029,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,202,392 shares of the company's stock worth $536,363,000 after acquiring an additional 588,435 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,587,877 shares of the company's stock worth $285,414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173,767 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,674,084 shares of the company's stock worth $268,672,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618,647 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,130,671 shares of the company's stock worth $222,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 239.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,347,163 shares of the company's stock worth $152,837,000 after acquiring an additional 5,889,542 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAG. Zacks Research raised shares of Conagra Brands from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $15.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Conagra Brands news, Director John J. Mulligan bought 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.31 per share, with a total value of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 20,728 shares in the company, valued at $296,617.68. This trade represents a 542.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard H. Lenny bought 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 229,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,288,735.60. This represents a 12.23% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 2.0%

CAG stock opened at $14.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.20. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $13.86 and a fifty-two week high of $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion and a PE ratio of -140.64.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.15%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.0%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,400.00%.

About Conagra Brands

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.

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