Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,455 shares of the company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,229,000 after buying an additional 1,691,945 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,180,000 after acquiring an additional 196,100 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,571,000 after purchasing an additional 122,590 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE CAG opened at $25.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.28. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.18 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.73. 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 (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.53%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CAG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.