Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $44.00. The stock had previously closed at $40.33, but opened at $38.36. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Campbell Soup shares last traded at $39.10, with a volume of 1,402,341 shares trading hands.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CPB. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Campbell Soup from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.36.

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Insider Transactions at Campbell Soup

In related 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 value of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at $693,486.90. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 20.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Campbell Soup by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company's stock worth $989,440,000 after purchasing an additional 447,203 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Campbell Soup by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company's stock worth $491,581,000 after purchasing an additional 298,203 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Campbell Soup by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company's stock worth $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares in the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 5.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business's 50 day moving average is $39.39 and its 200 day moving average is $44.31. The company has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.15.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.74 billion. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Campbell Soup's payout ratio is 90.17%.

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.