The Campbell Soup Company has had to grapple in recent years with stagnant sales and consumers forgoing the canned soups that have been its mainstay product for generations.

Now it must deal with an activist investor that wants to replace its entire board.

Third Point, the investment firm run by Daniel S. Loeb, nominated 12 candidates for the soup maker’s board on Friday to prod it into a sale. Among them is a scion of Campbell’s controlling family who has criticized the company’s direction.

It was an aggressive move by one of Wall Street’s highest-profile activist hedge funds to force through changes at a company.

Activist investors, who publicly pressure corporations to change their strategies, have gained in power over the past decade and have taken on ever-bigger targets. Even blue-chip names like Procter & Gamble, General Electric and Apple have found themselves in the sights of these hedge funds.