Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 352 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871,238 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 148.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1,362.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,406,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,186 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,209,000 after purchasing an additional 78,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.63.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG opened at $29.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.26. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.62 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 135.92%.

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.