Activists attention bolsters these stocks

Article Excerpt

CAMPBELL SOUP CO. $41 (New York symbol CPB; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 301.2 million; Market cap: $12.3 billion; Dividend yield: 3.4%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.campbellsoupcompany.com) recently completed a strategic review of its operations. That was partly in response to pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb, and his Third Point hedge fund, as well as from George Strawbridge Jr., the grandson of Campbell founder John Dorrance. Together, those shareholders control 10% of the stock. As a result of its review, the company will sell its international and refrigerated-foods units. It will then focus onsoups, pasta, V8 vegetable juices, and snack products. Campbell has now agreed to sell its Bolthouse Farms business, which produces fresh carrots, to a private equity firm for $510.0 million. The company is also considering the sale of its Kettle Chips business, which Campbell acquired as part of its $6.1 billion acquisition of snack-foods maker Snyder’s-Lance in March 2018. The company aims to increase its annual sales, excluding businesses bought or sold, by…