PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 0.4% After Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price was down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $186.00 to $183.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as low as $171.24 and last traded at $171.93. Approximately 1,054,153 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 5,492,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.54.

PEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,632,000 after acquiring an additional 700,092 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after purchasing an additional 561,465 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 67.2% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after buying an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.62 and its 200 day moving average is $172.06. The company has a market cap of $236.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.