California State Teachers Retirement System Has $25.68 Million Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) by 1.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 786,877 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,749 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $25,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 0.7% in the third quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 3.7% during the second quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 8,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 0.4% during the third quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 83,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 1.0% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 29,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. 81.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Conagra Brands from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Conagra Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.64.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $35.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.55. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.01 and a 12-month high of $41.30.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 5th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 5.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 27th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.62%.

Insider Transactions at Conagra Brands

In other news, SVP Robert G. Wise sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.90, for a total transaction of $2,045,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,717 shares in the company, valued at $929,125.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Conagra Brands Profile

(Get Rating)

Conagra Brands, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of processed and packaged foods. It operates through the following segments: Grocery and Snacks, Refrigerated and Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery and Snacks segment includes branded, shelf stable food products sold in various retail channels in the United States.