Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 555,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,939 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $15,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,229,000 after buying an additional 1,691,945 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,048,000 after buying an additional 618,096 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,180,000 after buying an additional 196,100 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,495,000 after buying an additional 10,604,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Conagra Brands by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,571,000 after buying an additional 122,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.1 %

CAG opened at $26.12 on Wednesday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $33.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 4.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CAG. Barclays cut their price objective on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.67.

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.