Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 299,632 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,346 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $8,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter worth $288,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 174,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,139,000 after buying an additional 24,094 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 21,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 8,102 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 159,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 7,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 0.8 %

Conagra Brands stock traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $30.59. 4,112,423 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,140,211. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.80. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.16 and a 1 year high of $38.20. The firm has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.25% and a net margin of 7.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.14.

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.