Wedmont Private Capital Makes New $702,000 Investment in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 27,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Adams Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 211,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,865,000 after acquiring an additional 3,168 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 399,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,085,000 after purchasing an additional 62,187 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 103,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 5,896 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 48,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $26.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.32. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.85 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently 137.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.56.

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.