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

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) dropped 0.7% during trading on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $143.93 and last traded at $144.31. Approximately 1,185,914 shares traded hands during 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 research analysts also recently issued reports on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a $172.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. State Street Corp boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $151.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. 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.