Sterling Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 56.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,472 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,152 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Campbell Soup by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,440,000 after purchasing an additional 447,203 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,273,000 after buying an additional 531,281 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,925,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,034,000 after buying an additional 35,160 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,323,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,420,000 after acquiring an additional 57,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,645,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,957 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CPB. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Campbell Soup from $51.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.86.

Campbell Soup Trading Up 1.8 %

CPB opened at $37.53 on Friday. The Campbell Soup Company has a one year low of $36.02 and a one year high of $52.81. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.82.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 4.16%. Campbell Soup’s payout ratio is 90.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Charles A. Brawley III sold 2,498 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,504,727.70. This trade represents a 6.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.