PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares dropped 1.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $142.25 and last traded at $142.43. Approximately 1,663,025 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,052,073 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $198.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $148.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.95.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 147.6% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 8,759 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,529,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.