First Trust Advisors LP Sells 862,793 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,609,471 shares of the company's stock after selling 862,793 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.55% of Conagra Brands worth $72,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CAG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the third quarter valued at about $196,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 85,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 573,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,660,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,048,000 after acquiring an additional 618,096 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAG. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of CAG traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.44. The company had a trading volume of 6,447,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,131,012. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $25.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.75. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.73%. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.88%.

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.