260,339 Shares of Conagra Brands $CAG Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 260,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,499,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Conagra Brands at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,071,275,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 9.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,323,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,771,000 after buying an additional 1,701,624 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,815,000. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Conagra Brands by 5.5% in the second quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,371,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,915,000 after buying an additional 122,713 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Conagra Brands during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,316,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of CAG traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.71. 8,172,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,362,875. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.20. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $12.53 and a 12-month high of $20.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 0.02.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.59 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.95% and a positive return on equity of 11.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Conagra Brands will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a $0.1750 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is currently -17.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Evercore set a $13.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Conagra Brands from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank increased their price target on Conagra Brands from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.07.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands is a packaged-food company that develops, manufactures and markets products for retail, foodservice and other customers. Its offerings include frozen meals and vegetables, snacks, baking products, condiments, cooking ingredients and meat snacks. The company’s portfolio includes brands such as Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender’s, Duncan Hines, Slim Jim, Orville Redenbacher’s, Hunt’s, Banquet and Reddi-wip. Its products are sold primarily in the United States, as well as in international markets.