Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,180,000 shares, a growth of 16.6% from the March 15th total of 14,740,000 shares. Approximately 8.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CPB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Campbell Soup in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “sell” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Campbell Soup in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Campbell Soup from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.38.

Campbell Soup Stock Performance

Shares of Campbell Soup stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.01. 2,582,180 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,753,826. Campbell Soup has a 1 year low of $37.94 and a 1 year high of $55.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Campbell Soup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Campbell Soup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.81%.

Institutional Trading of Campbell Soup

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Campbell Soup during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,128,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup during the 1st quarter valued at $935,000. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Campbell Soup in the 1st quarter worth $248,000. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Campbell Soup in the 1st quarter worth $444,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Campbell Soup by 58.1% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 38,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 14,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.