Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 35.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,554 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 153,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,395,000 after acquiring an additional 100,141 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 316.6% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 154,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,414,000 after buying an additional 117,042 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 120.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 859,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,572,000 after buying an additional 469,421 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 517,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,840,000 after acquiring an additional 37,149 shares during the period. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $7,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,030,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,681,590. The stock has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.25. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $25.16 and a one year high of $34.38.

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

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 15,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.37, for a total transaction of $469,034.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 113,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,439,523.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.