Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 115,122 Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 161.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 186,277 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,122 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.06% of Campbell Soup worth $7,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,792,005 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Campbell Soup by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 2,809 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Campbell Soup by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 165,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,096,000 after buying an additional 42,216 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,806,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 4th quarter valued at about $293,000. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CPB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Campbell Soup from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.17.

Campbell Soup Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CPB opened at $40.59 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.65 and a 200-day moving average of $44.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 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. The Campbell Soup Company has a twelve month low of $36.92 and a twelve 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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Campbell Soup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. 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 85.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Campbell Soup

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,486.90. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.