New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 367,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,274 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $11,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,890,108.47. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAG shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of CAG stock opened at $28.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.23. The stock has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.34. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.62 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.92%.

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.