Leonteq Securities AG Makes New Investment in Conagra Brands $CAG

Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 139,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 50,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research cut Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Conagra Brands from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $15.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard H. Lenny acquired 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $358,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 229,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,288,735.60. This trade represents a 12.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John J. Mulligan acquired 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.31 per share, with a total value of $250,425.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $296,617.68. This trade represents a 542.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG opened at $13.78 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -137.76. Conagra Brands has a twelve month low of $13.42 and a twelve month high of $23.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.76 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,400.00%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.