Conagra Brands Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CAG)

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 15,336 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 492% compared to the average volume of 2,589 call options.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 237.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 76,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 54,195 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 815,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,385,000 after acquiring an additional 88,576 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 663.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 436,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,516,000 after acquiring an additional 379,473 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 261.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 147,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after acquiring an additional 106,368 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the first quarter worth about $7,429,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CAG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Shares of CAG opened at $32.56 on Wednesday. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $33.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $15.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.92.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Conagra Brands will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 191.78%.

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.