Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 22,346 Shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 299,632 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,346 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC owned 0.06% of Conagra Brands worth $8,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Conagra Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Conagra Brands by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Conagra Brands by 313.4% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. 83.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CAG. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock 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, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Conagra Brands from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.14.

Conagra Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CAG traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,112,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,140,211. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.16 and a 1-year high of $38.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.80.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 4th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Conagra Brands’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Announces Dividend

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 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Conagra Brands’s payout ratio is presently 70.35%.

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.