The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Holdings in Conagra Brands $CAG

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,563 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340,435 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the second quarter worth $1,071,275,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth $145,656,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Conagra Brands by 239.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 8,347,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,837,000 after acquiring an additional 5,889,542 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 245.5% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,734,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,495,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 216.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,459,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100,424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CAG. Weiss Ratings downgraded Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.4%

Conagra Brands stock opened at $16.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04 and a beta of -0.01. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $12.53 and a 52 week high of $20.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. Conagra Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.44% and a negative net margin of 16.99%.The company had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently -17.50%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.