Should You Buy Campbell Soup Company (CPB)?

Page 1 of 2

Is Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) a good investment?

If you were to ask many traders, hedge funds are perceived as delayed, outdated financial tools of an era lost to time. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds in operation today, this site focuses on the crème de la crème of this group, around 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total assets, and by watching their highest performing stock picks, we’ve unsheathed a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find a sample of our picks).

Just as necessary, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the stock market universe. There are many incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).

What’s more, let’s examine the newest info surrounding Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB).

What does the smart money think about Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 25% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB)Out of the hedge funds we follow, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB). Renaissance Technologies has a $123.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Winton Capital Management, managed by David Harding, which held a $44.7 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.

As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the biggest position in Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB). Renaissance Technologies had 123.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also made a $44.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.

Insider trading activity in Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB)

Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB). These stocks are Kellogg Company (NYSE:K), McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC), The J.M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM), Mead Johnson Nutrition CO (NYSE:MJN), and ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG). This group of stocks are in the processed & packaged goods industry and their market caps match CPB’s market cap.

Page 1 of 2