The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) Receives $50.17 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.17.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CPB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Campbell Soup from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of Campbell Soup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Campbell Soup

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,581,000 after acquiring an additional 298,203 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 531,281 shares in the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. grew its position in Campbell Soup by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,925,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,034,000 after purchasing an additional 35,160 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Campbell Soup by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,323,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,420,000 after purchasing an additional 57,717 shares during the period. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 1.4 %

CPB opened at $38.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Campbell Soup has a 52 week low of $36.92 and a 52 week high of $52.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.31.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.02. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. As a group, research analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Campbell Soup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.25%.

Campbell Soup Company Profile

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.