Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases New Shares in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,013,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871,238 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,602,000 after purchasing an additional 633,794 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,102,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,909,000 after purchasing an additional 63,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 148.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,535,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513,726 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 objective for the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a report 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $27.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.78. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.21 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.07). Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 135.92%.

Conagra Brands Company 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.