FILE PHOTO: Cans of Campbell’s Soup are displayed in a supermarket in New York City, U.S. February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
March 11, 2018
(Reuters) – Campbell Soup Co <CPB.N> faces challenges but with its shares the cheapest they have been in years, the stock may be a bargain, Barron’s said in an article on Sunday.
Campbell faces a grocery war. Walmart Inc <WMT.N>, Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>, dollar stores like Dollar General Corp <DG.N> and drugstores like CVS Health Corp <CVS.N> are vying to take share from traditional grocers, according to the article.
A recent squabble with Walmart over soup promotions cut into Campbell’s sales, but Barron’s said the grocery war was also a sales opportunity since Campbell plans to expand distribution through dollar stores and drugstores.
Campbell is expected to grow revenue by a fraction of 1 percent in its fiscal year through July, while increasing earnings per share by 2 percent, Barron’s said.
With shares trading below $42 earlier this month, their lowest since 2014, Barron’s noted, “The discount on shares may be too large to ignore.” Campbell shares closed at $43.61 on Friday.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
