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

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 28,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 313.4% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CAG shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CAG stock opened at $31.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.42. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $38.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.23 and a 200 day moving average of $28.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.25% and a net margin of 7.86%. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.35%.

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.