Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 1,618 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,624 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $3,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,035,000. SPC Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 15,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the 4th quarter valued at about $666,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,239,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,898,000 after buying an additional 136,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 157,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CAG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of CAG opened at $27.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.18. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

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

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.25%.

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.