Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $40.33, but opened at $38.36. Campbell Soup shares last traded at $39.10, with a volume of 1,402,341 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CPB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Campbell Soup from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

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 has a fifty day moving average price of $39.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.43. The company has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.19.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.25%.

Insider Activity at Campbell Soup

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Campbell Soup by 1.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,581,000 after purchasing an additional 298,203 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Campbell Soup by 6.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,323,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,420,000 after acquiring an additional 57,717 shares during the period. 52.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.