Welch Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB)

Welch Group LLC acquired a new position in Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,329,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,844,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter worth $125,689,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in Campbell Soup during the first quarter valued at $30,128,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Campbell Soup by 21.2% during 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 buying an additional 580,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 1st quarter worth about $11,405,000. 52.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Campbell Soup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Campbell Soup from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.40.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CPB traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $48.99. The stock had a trading volume of 680,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,631,938. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.65. Campbell Soup has a 12-month low of $37.94 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.62.

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Campbell Soup will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

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.