CPB is holding on to its year-to-date breakeven level
Processed food giant Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) operates and owns many popular brands including Prego, Pepperidge Farm, and V8. The company is most well-known for its iconic Campbell Soup brand. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, CPB has been one of the few stocks that has not seen much volatility as compared to its peers. The stock scored a three-year high of $57.54 on March 17 and fell to an annual low of $40.70 just a week later by March 27. Despite the choppy price action, the shares are holding on to their year-to-date breakeven level.
Using Schaeffer's extensive historical database, we conduct extensive research on each underlying equity and determined which of those underlying equities’ options have historically had underpriced or overpriced options. We rank each equity’s options relative to the others in our database, with scores ranging from zero to 100. Low SVS readings like this one point to CPB stock having consistently realized lower volatility than their options have priced in -- pointing to possible premium-selling candidates. CPB currently ranks a 5 out of 100 on the Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS).
Campbell Soup Company has beat expectations on all four of its most recent earnings reports. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Campbell Soup Company beat expectations by $0.07. The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.78. In the following quarter, Campbell Soup Company dropped its reported EPS to $0.72. The company beat expectations by a margin of $0.06. The company boosted an EPS to $0.83 in the second quarter of 2020, beating expectations by $0.08. Most recently, in the company's fiscal third quarter earnings report, Campbell Soup Company beat Its earnings target by 5%. The company reported an EPS of $0.63 instead of the expected EPS of $0.60, representing a $0.20 decrease in EPS as compared to the previous quarter. For Campbell Soup Company's upcoming earnings report, the company is expected to increase its EPS to $0.91.
Campbell Soup stock has a forward dividend of $1.40 and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The last dividend the company paid was for $0.35. Campbell Soup Company has paid dividends since 1980.
Campbell Soup Company's business model is about as straightforward as a company can get. Over the company’s extensive history, it has managed to gain a sizable market share through heavy product marketing; its brand is one of most recognizable in the United States.
Campbell Soup Company has maintained its steady revenue repeatedly for many years and will likely continue to do so. The company has also managed to pretty regularly increase its dividends for its investors since 1980. Campbell Soup Company's reliable dividend coupled with the stock’s lack of volatility has made CPB stock one of the best dividend stocks in the market. Some dividend-focused investors are probably kicking themselves for not picking the stock up when CPB stock price was in the low $40 range earlier this year.