Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Consumer Edge

Consumer Edge reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CPB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Campbell Soup from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Campbell Soup presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.23.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ CPB opened at $39.01 on Monday. Campbell Soup has a one year low of $36.92 and a one year high of $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $83,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 20.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792,005 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 272.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,243,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,400 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 1,296.1% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,407,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,372 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,645,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,908,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

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.