StockNews.com Downgrades Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) to Sell

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Campbell Soup from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Campbell Soup from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Friday, June 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.56.

Campbell Soup Price Performance

Campbell Soup stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $46.27. 2,350,378 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,667,720. The company has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. Campbell Soup has a twelve month low of $37.94 and a twelve month high of $48.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.17.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,548,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,301 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 21.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 580,411 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the 4th quarter valued at $125,689,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 49,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,246,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,554,000 after acquiring an additional 85,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

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.