Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires New Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,020,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871,238 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after buying an additional 633,794 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 148.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after buying an additional 1,513,726 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,186 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,209,000 after acquiring an additional 78,487 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $27.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $26.62 and a one year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.10.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 135.92%.

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.