PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Down 0.9% After Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares traded down 0.9% on Thursday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $144.01 and last traded at $144.33. 1,433,024 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 6,747,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.66.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,878,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,732,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $589,307,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 397,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,516,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $199.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $152.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.