Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Shares Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 281.9% during the first quarter, owning 32,403 shares valued at approximately $864,000.
• Conagra Brands reported its quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.56, missing analysts' estimates by $0.05, and revenue of $2.78 billion, down 4.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35, translating to an annualized dividend of $1.40 and a yield of 7.2%.

Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 281.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,403 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 23,918 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,859,985 shares of the company's stock worth $316,306,000 after buying an additional 698,630 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 14,639 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Conagra Brands by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 131,500 shares of the company's stock worth $3,507,000 after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Conagra Brands by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 370,024 shares of the company's stock worth $9,868,000 after purchasing an additional 136,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 529,404 shares of the company's stock worth $14,119,000 after purchasing an additional 154,585 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company's stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $19.16. 8,385,226 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,699,979. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $18.18 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $20.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a PE ratio of 8.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.08.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.58.

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.