Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases New Shares in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,675,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619,372 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 14.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,171,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,580,000 after buying an additional 1,737,380 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 75.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,748,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,986 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Conagra Brands by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 8,426,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 401.4% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,519,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.75% of the company’s stock.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE:CAG traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,763,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,022,208. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.16 and a 52 week high of $38.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.83. 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 (NYSE:CAG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a return on equity of 14.25% and a net margin of 7.86%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 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 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 70.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CAG has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

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.