Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

CPB has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Campbell Soup from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Campbell Soup from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $46.56.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Shares of CPB opened at $49.11 on Friday. Campbell Soup has a twelve month low of $37.94 and a twelve month high of $49.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 5th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 23.26%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Campbell Soup will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.6% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 6,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 2.1% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 12,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 6,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 5.5% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 1.1% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.