PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $150.27, but opened at $146.10. PepsiCo shares last traded at $147.12, with a volume of 2,255,308 shares.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PEP. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $174.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 5.6% in 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,130,841,000 after acquiring an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 4.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.86 and its 200 day moving average is $164.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.