Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 212,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,211 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Campbell Soup worth $10,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Campbell Soup during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Campbell Soup in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Campbell Soup during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup during the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Campbell Soup stock opened at $46.60 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.61. Campbell Soup has a 1 year low of $39.65 and a 1 year high of $52.81. The company has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.19.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 24.08% and a net margin of 5.88%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CPB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Campbell Soup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Campbell Soup from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.58.

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.