Citigroup Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 420,973 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,539 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $14,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.9% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.5% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 54,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 17,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.2% in the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 7,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.5% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 56,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard H. Lenny acquired 9,238 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.31 per share, for a total transaction of $252,289.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 165,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,511,748.55. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CAG shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $39.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Conagra Brands from $37.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.15.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Conagra Brands stock opened at $28.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.68 and a 200-day moving average of $31.20. The firm has a market cap of $13.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.61. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $41.30.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.22%.

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.