Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 36,115 Shares of The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in The Campbell Soup Company (NASDAQ:CPB) by 70.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 87,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,115 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $3,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Campbell Soup by 1,593.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,904,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,792,005 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 2,809 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Campbell Soup by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 165,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,096,000 after buying an additional 42,216 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Campbell Soup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,806,000. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $293,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Campbell Soup from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Campbell Soup presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.17.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Campbell Soup stock opened at $37.39 on Tuesday. The Campbell Soup Company has a 52 week low of $36.92 and a 52 week high of $52.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.43. The stock has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.02. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Campbell Soup Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from Campbell Soup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Campbell Soup news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total transaction of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 20.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.