Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 172,489 Shares of Conagra Brands $CAG

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 172,489 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.06% of Conagra Brands worth $7,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 2.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,403,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,893 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 6.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,859,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,306,000 after acquiring an additional 698,630 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 49.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,162,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,702,407 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,135,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 233.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,985,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,625,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191,555 shares during the period. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Conagra Brands Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of CAG stock opened at $19.6730 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.71. Conagra Brands has a 52-week low of $18.18 and a 52-week high of $33.24. The company has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.82 and its 200 day moving average is $22.96.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.05). Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 9.92%.The business had revenue of $2,781,800 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CAG. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $21.00 price target on Conagra Brands and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Conagra Brands from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America downgraded Conagra Brands from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Conagra Brands from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.17.

Conagra Brands 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.