Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,870 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,482 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Campbell Soup by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.6% in 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. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in Campbell Soup by 1.3% during the third quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 20,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Campbell Soup by 0.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 87,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Campbell Soup by 4.0% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Argus raised shares of Campbell Soup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Campbell Soup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Campbell Soup has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.83.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CPB traded down $0.39 on Thursday, reaching $45.85. 58,030 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,420. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Campbell Soup has a 1-year low of $39.65 and a 1-year high of $52.81. The firm has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.81 and a 200-day moving average of $47.09.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 24.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Campbell Soup will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is currently 78.31%.

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.