Dean Investment Associates LLC Has $3.40 Million Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Dean Investment Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 122,348 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,097 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $3,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $168,877,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,704,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,161,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745,319 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,798,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,631,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,839 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,927,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $24.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.03.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.88%.

About Conagra Brands

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.