Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Research Coverage Started at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock.

CPB has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas raised Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Campbell Soup currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.86.

Campbell Soup Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:CPB opened at $39.14 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.23. Campbell Soup has a fifty-two week low of $36.92 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid 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 3.99%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.17%.

Insider Activity at Campbell Soup

In related news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Campbell Soup

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CPB. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in Campbell Soup during the fourth quarter worth about $135,000. QSM Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,556,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Campbell Soup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,462,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $264,000. 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.