PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 1.9%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) fell 1.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $171.26 and last traded at $171.35. 2,484,107 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 5,420,722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $185.53.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $234.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 67.2% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after buying an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 125.2% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after buying an additional 1,523,631 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 429.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,603,000 after buying an additional 1,179,922 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth about $166,243,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after purchasing an additional 905,468 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.