Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,910,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the September 15th total of 17,030,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $1,211,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 161,443 shares in the company, valued at $4,890,108.47. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Conagra Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Conagra Brands during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Conagra Brands by 82.8% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Conagra Brands by 144.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Conagra Brands during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. 83.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Conagra Brands to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Conagra Brands in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Conagra Brands in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Conagra Brands from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Conagra Brands from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Conagra Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.63.

Conagra Brands Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Conagra Brands stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $30.31. 6,675,142 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,774,871. The stock has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Conagra Brands has a 12-month low of $26.62 and a 12-month high of $33.24.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 2nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Conagra Brands will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 191.78%.

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.