Barron's Gets Comfy with Campbell Soup (CPB)

Late yesterday, Barron's published an article touting Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) as a "comfort stock" given the nature of its business, earnings estimates which have already been taken down, and a 3.4% yield which pays investors to wait for profits to rise.

The article is timely in that shares of Campbell Soup just recently set a new 52-week low. Last week, the stock dipped as low as $27.35, but has moved up about 8% since, trading around $29.96 this morning (up about 1.7% from yesterday's close).

Barron's highlights several interesting catalysts which could push shares of Campbell Soup higher:

• a focus on widening its audience - the company's condensed-soup line currently makes up about 15% of its sales, but Campbell is aiming at driving innovation with new lines such as the 'Select Harvest' soups or the V8 line of boxed pureed soups.
  
• a round of price hikes which have not yet hit store shelves fully, and
  
• a stock which is trading well below its 10-year average P/E of 17.6x. Shares of Campbell Soup currently bolster a forward P/E of 13.8x.

Notably, analysts from Soleil and Barclay's cited in the Barron's article have Buy and Overweight ratings on the stock, respectively. The analyst from Soleil currently has a $41 price target on Campbell Soup, representing a potential gain of about 35% from current levels.

Campbell Soup Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of branded convenience food products worldwide.

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