Kimelman & Baird LLC Invests $224,000 in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CAG. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $310,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 58,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Conagra Brands by 618.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 443,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,700,000 after purchasing an additional 381,423 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Conagra Brands by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 920,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,376,000 after purchasing an additional 60,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Conagra Brands by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 14,578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CAG. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.10.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $32.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of 44.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.23.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 14.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Conagra Brands

In related news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,890,108.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.