Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,484,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,229,000 after buying an additional 1,691,945 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,285,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,048,000 after buying an additional 618,096 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,514,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,180,000 after buying an additional 196,100 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 21,015.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,654,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,495,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 6,290,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,571,000 after purchasing an additional 122,590 shares in the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

CAG opened at $23.92 on Wednesday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.62.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Conagra Brands’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 137.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

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.