Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Shares Purchased by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 148.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $72,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 144.4% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CAG shares. Barclays cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Conagra Brands in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of Conagra Brands stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total transaction of $1,211,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

Conagra Brands stock opened at $32.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.12. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.16 and a 1 year high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 191.78%.

Conagra Brands 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.