Meyer Handelman Co. Lowers Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Meyer Handelman Co. trimmed its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 36.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 332,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189,700 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $9,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CAG. Courier Capital LLC raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 27,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 52,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its position in Conagra Brands by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas raised Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

CAG opened at $26.06 on Wednesday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.85 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. Conagra Brands’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 137.25%.

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.