Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $765,000 Investment in Conagra Brands $CAG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 56,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth $225,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 5.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 11,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.9% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 50,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CAG shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

CAG stock opened at $16.08 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.22. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.02 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Conagra Brands has a fifty-two week low of $12.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Conagra Brands’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.50%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.