Scotia Capital Inc. Cuts Holdings in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its position in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,926 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 70.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 73,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after buying an additional 30,215 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 139,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 196,100 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Conagra Brands by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Conagra Brands by 6.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 253,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,242,000 after purchasing an additional 15,325 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced 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 report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Conagra Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $33.00 to $26.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.90.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Conagra Brands stock opened at $25.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.70. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.14. The firm has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.27.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 3rd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is 205.88%.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.