Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 494,567 Shares of The Campbell's Company (NASDAQ:CPB)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in The Campbell's Company by 2.1%, now holding approximately 24.1 million shares valued at $962.88 million, which represents about 8.09% of the company.
• Campbell's reported earnings of $0.73 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts have recently revised their price targets for Campbell's stock, with the average price target now at $39.06 amid multiple hold and sell ratings.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in The Campbell's Company (NASDAQ:CPB - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,120,172 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 494,567 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.09% of Campbell's worth $962,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Campbell's by 272.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,243,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641,400 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Campbell's by 1,296.1% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,407,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,372 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Campbell's during the fourth quarter valued at $48,468,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Campbell's by 119.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,998,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Campbell's by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,662,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,507,000 after acquiring an additional 966,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CPB shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Campbell's from $37.00 to $33.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Argus downgraded Campbell's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Campbell's from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Campbell's from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Campbell's from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.06.

Campbell's Stock Performance

Shares of CPB stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.58. 2,180,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,117,851. The Campbell's Company has a 12-month low of $29.39 and a 12-month high of $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.65.

Campbell's (NASDAQ:CPB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, June 2nd. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Campbell's had a return on equity of 23.22% and a net margin of 4.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Campbell's Company will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Campbell's

The Campbell's Company, formerly known as 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.