Lincoln National Corp Buys New Stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 12th, 2023

Lincoln National Corp purchased a new stake in Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAG. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Conagra Brands by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 64,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 0.4% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 309,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 3.7% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 19.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 4,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Conagra Brands by 509.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 366,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,294,000 after purchasing an additional 306,086 shares during the last quarter. 81.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Conagra Brands from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Conagra Brands in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Conagra Brands from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

Conagra Brands Price Performance

NYSE:CAG opened at $36.50 on Friday. Conagra Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.01 and a 52 week high of $41.30. The firm has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 5th. The company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.12. Conagra Brands had a net margin of 6.59% and a return on equity of 15.34%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Conagra Brands’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Conagra Brands, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Conagra Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. Conagra Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 79.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Conagra Brands news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 7,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.04, for a total value of $260,613.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,466.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Conagra Brands news, EVP Charisse Brock sold 7,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.04, for a total value of $260,613.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,466.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas M. Mcgough sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.66, for a total transaction of $1,739,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,859 shares in the company, valued at $4,053,848.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Conagra Brands Company Profile

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Conagra Brands, Inc engages in the manufacture and sale of processed and packaged foods. It operates through the following segments: Grocery and Snacks, Refrigerated and Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery and Snacks segment includes branded, shelf stable food products sold in various retail channels in the United States.