Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases Shares of 2,252,285 Conagra Brands $CAG

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,252,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,316,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at about $1,071,275,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,202,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,363,000 after purchasing an additional 588,435 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Conagra Brands by 9.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 19,323,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701,624 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Conagra Brands by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,667,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,829,000 after purchasing an additional 2,079,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,229,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376,823 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Conagra Brands Stock Down 1.2%

CAG stock opened at $16.00 on Friday. Conagra Brands has a 52 week low of $12.53 and a 52 week high of $20.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of -4.00 and a beta of -0.03.

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

Conagra Brands Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CAG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of Conagra Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on Conagra Brands from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Conagra Brands from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $14.07.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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.