Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 11,317 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 84.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,158 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,317 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $70,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 237.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 76,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after buying an additional 54,195 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 261.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 147,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after buying an additional 106,368 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth $7,429,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 573.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after buying an additional 32,396 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $3,829,000. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CAG shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Conagra Brands

In other Conagra Brands news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $28.45 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.17. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $26.62 and a one year high of $33.24.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.