Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 91,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,815,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,005 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Campbell Soup during the 4th quarter worth $50,908,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Campbell Soup during the 4th quarter worth $21,312,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Campbell Soup

In related news, EVP Charles A. Brawley III sold 2,498 shares of Campbell Soup stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $99,994.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,504,727.70. This trade represents a 6.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 20.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CPB. Consumer Edge restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Campbell Soup from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $48.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Campbell Soup from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.86.

Campbell Soup Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPB opened at $38.25 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.24. The Campbell Soup Company has a 52-week low of $36.02 and a 52-week high of $52.81.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 23.79%. Campbell Soup’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is 90.17%.

Campbell Soup 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.