Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Trims Stock Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,424 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,857,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,888,000 after acquiring an additional 127,739 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at about $159,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Conagra Brands by 316.6% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 154,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,414,000 after buying an additional 117,042 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 587,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,824,000 after buying an additional 171,145 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 32,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $918,000 after buying an additional 3,904 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CAG. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Conagra Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $32.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.92, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.16 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.81.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.78%.

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.