PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 0.6% on Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price fell 0.6% on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $190.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as low as $161.96 and last traded at $162.60. 2,879,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 5,397,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.58.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.64.

Insider Activity at PepsiCo

In related news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after purchasing an additional 578,083 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after buying an additional 1,345,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,421,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,250,000 after buying an additional 1,105,127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $223.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 81.50%.

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.