Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,235,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,865,039 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.77% of Conagra Brands worth $367,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $24.44 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.73%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 205.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.90.

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.