Bridges Investment Management Inc. Purchases 5,324 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,610 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 144.4% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CAG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG opened at $32.30 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 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.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Conagra Brands’s dividend 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.