Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,226 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,002 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 7.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,945 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,180,000 after acquiring an additional 196,100 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CAG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.56.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG opened at $25.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.25. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $25.35 and a one year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released 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 return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS 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 $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 137.26%.

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.