Dark Forest Capital Management LP Grows Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 78.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,116 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 148,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,244,000 after acquiring an additional 8,945 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 815,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,385,000 after buying an additional 88,576 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter worth $310,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 331,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,508,000 after acquiring an additional 21,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $32.49 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. 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 quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.51, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.15.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 191.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CAG shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.