Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires 26,424 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 307.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,015 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,424 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Conagra Brands by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,085,000 after purchasing an additional 62,187 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Conagra Brands by 110.8% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 36,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 19,329 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,048,000 after acquiring an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,020,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG opened at $24.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.18 and a 1-year high of $33.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.60 and a 200-day moving average of $28.82.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Profile

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.