Cerity Partners LLC Buys 190,901 Shares of Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) by 326.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 249,316 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,901 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Campbell Soup were worth $10,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CPB. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Campbell Soup by 2,269.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,715,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558,933 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Campbell Soup in the fourth quarter valued at about $164,197,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 3,894.4% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,308,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,789 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 16.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,182,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,954,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749,650 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Campbell Soup by 66.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,512,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company’s stock.

Campbell Soup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CPB opened at $42.31 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.30. Campbell Soup has a 52 week low of $37.94 and a 52 week high of $55.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.24.

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.44 billion. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.18% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Campbell Soup will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Campbell Soup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 4th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio is 57.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CPB. Evercore ISI began coverage on Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Campbell Soup in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Campbell Soup in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised Campbell Soup from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Campbell Soup presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.38.

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.