Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $828,000 in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 28,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 267.0% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 292,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,374,000 after buying an additional 212,603 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $508,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,133 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195,066 shares of the company's stock worth $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 50,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venture Visionary Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $639,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CAG stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $31.08. 3,322,417 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,524,899. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.95. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $25.16 and a one year high of $38.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.42.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.35%.

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.