PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $140.67 and last traded at $142.88, with a volume of 3891237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PEP. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $196.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $149.33 and its 200 day moving average is $156.94.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,031,000 after buying an additional 61,541 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 147.6% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,529,000 after acquiring an additional 18,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.