Commerce Bank Buys 1,718 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Commerce Bank grew its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 4.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,408 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,718 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 20.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after buying an additional 1,871,238 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after acquiring an additional 633,794 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,513,726 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position 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 worth $68,400,000 after acquiring an additional 2,242,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,294,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,209,000 after purchasing an additional 78,487 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG opened at $27.42 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.21 and a 12 month high of $33.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 135.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Company 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.