Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Holdings Cut by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY reduced its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 867,149 shares of the company’s stock after selling 566,015 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.18% of Conagra Brands worth $24,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $1,231,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 328.8% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,000 after buying an additional 26,314 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 7,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,889,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 51,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on CAG. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Conagra Brands Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CAG stock opened at $24.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.28. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.64 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.89. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 137.26%.

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.