Short Interest in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Increases By 9.9%

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,950,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the December 15th total of 14,510,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:CAG traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $25.83. The company had a trading volume of 9,680,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,525,496. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.29. Conagra Brands has a 1 year low of $25.35 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 137.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CAG. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.56.

Institutional Trading of Conagra Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,085,000 after acquiring an additional 62,187 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 110.8% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 36,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 19,329 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,048,000 after purchasing an additional 618,096 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $346,495,000 after buying an additional 10,604,367 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.