PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 4.6% on Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) dropped 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $155.00 to $150.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as low as $143.61 and last traded at $143.32. Approximately 4,558,638 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 6,449,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.27.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. State Street Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after buying an additional 1,125,059 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after acquiring an additional 689,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $152.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.53. The company has a market capitalization of $199.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.94%.

About PepsiCo

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.