Saba Capital Management L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Conagra Brands $CAG

Saba Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) by 247.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 161,608 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,040 shares during the period. Saba Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Conagra Brands were worth $2,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Conagra Brands by 156.9% during the first quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on CAG shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Conagra Brands from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Conagra Brands in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Conagra Brands from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

NYSE CAG opened at $15.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.82 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.59. Conagra Brands has a 1-year low of $12.53 and a 1-year high of $20.32.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. Conagra Brands had a negative net margin of 16.99% and a positive return on equity of 10.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Conagra Brands has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.400-1.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Conagra Brands will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -35.00%.

About Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands, Inc is a leading packaged foods company based in Chicago, Illinois, with a broad portfolio of shelf-stable, frozen and refrigerated foods marketed under familiar brands. The company develops, produces and distributes a wide range of consumer food products, serving both retail grocery and foodservice channels. Conagra’s product lineup includes frozen entrees, snacks, condiments, baking goods and desserts, providing convenient meal solutions for consumers across North America and select international markets.

Among its well-known brands are Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender’s and Banquet in the frozen foods category, as well as Hunt’s sauces, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Slim Jim meat snacks and Reddi-wip toppings.