Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 183,966 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 59.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183,966 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $4,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CAG. Courier Capital LLC increased its position in Conagra Brands by 1.3% during the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 27,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 16,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 52,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.5% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 25,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CAG. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.75.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

CAG stock opened at $27.64 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.13 and a 200-day moving average of $29.48. The company has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.31. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.07%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 137.25%.

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.