PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 0.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) dropped 0.7% on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $143.93 and last traded at $144.31. Approximately 1,185,914 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 6,695,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.35.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic raised PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. HSBC dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 213,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,527,000 after purchasing an additional 7,959 shares during the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 41,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,003,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 16,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

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.