Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Position in Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,211 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,903 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $3,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Campbell Soup by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,329,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,495 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter worth about $125,689,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Campbell Soup in the first quarter worth about $30,128,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 21.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,315,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,375,000 after purchasing an additional 580,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 116.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 463,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,042,000 after purchasing an additional 249,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CPB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Campbell Soup from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Campbell Soup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Campbell Soup from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.56.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CPB opened at $47.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.16. Campbell Soup has a 12 month low of $37.94 and a 12 month high of $48.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 5th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Campbell Soup had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 23.26%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.92%.

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.