Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 131,095 Shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB)

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) by 68.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 131,095 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $2,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,548,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,301 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,315,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,375,000 after purchasing an additional 580,411 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Campbell Soup during the 4th quarter valued at about $125,689,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,688,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,001,000 after purchasing an additional 49,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Campbell Soup by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,246,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,554,000 after purchasing an additional 85,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CPB shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Friday, June 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Campbell Soup from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Campbell Soup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.56.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE CPB traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $46.80. The company had a trading volume of 453,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,654,349. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.17. The stock has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.16. Campbell Soup has a 52-week low of $37.94 and a 52-week high of $48.63.

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 5th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during 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%. Campbell Soup’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Campbell Soup will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.92%.

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.