Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $37.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $48.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 11.50% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CPB. BNP Paribas raised Campbell Soup to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Campbell Soup from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Campbell Soup in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Campbell Soup from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.36.

Campbell Soup Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of Campbell Soup stock opened at $41.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.36. Campbell Soup has a 12-month low of $36.92 and a 12-month high of $52.81.

Campbell Soup (NASDAQ:CPB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Campbell Soup had a return on equity of 23.79% and a net margin of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Campbell Soup will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Anthony Sanzio sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.90, for a total value of $83,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,486.90. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 20.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,625,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,440,000 after buying an additional 447,203 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Campbell Soup by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,048,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,581,000 after buying an additional 298,203 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Campbell Soup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,247,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,273,000 after purchasing an additional 531,281 shares during the period. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its position in Campbell Soup by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 6,925,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,034,000 after purchasing an additional 35,160 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Campbell Soup by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,323,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,420,000 after purchasing an additional 57,717 shares during the period. 52.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Campbell Soup

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.