Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 415,655 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,544,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 415,655 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $44,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CAG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 47.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 83,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 27,065 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 31,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 191,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,255,000 after buying an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CAG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAG opened at $30.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.16 and a 12 month high of $38.73. The company has a market capitalization of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.31 and its 200 day moving average is $28.72.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 70.35%.

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.