The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) Receives $50.17 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.17.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Campbell Soup from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 20.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Campbell Soup

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CPB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,440,000 after purchasing an additional 447,203 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Campbell Soup by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,581,000 after buying an additional 298,203 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after buying an additional 531,281 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,265,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,827,000 after buying an additional 322,951 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,237,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,487,000 after acquiring an additional 199,470 shares in the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Campbell Soup Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Campbell Soup stock opened at $37.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.36. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.19. Campbell Soup has a 12-month low of $36.92 and a 12-month high of $52.81.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.02. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Campbell Soup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is currently 85.25%.

About Campbell Soup

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Meals & Beverages and Snacks segments. The Meals & Beverages segment engages in the retail and foodservice businesses in the United States and Canada.