Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 2,144 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 5.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 35,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,144 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CAG. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 106.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,077,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,624,000 after buying an additional 3,133,200 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position 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 worth $68,400,000 after buying an additional 2,242,186 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 3rd quarter worth about $65,932,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.38.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $27.37 on Thursday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.21 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.55.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. 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 posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.12%. Conagra Brands’s dividend 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.