Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) Sees Strong Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $40.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Approximately 13,843,231 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 47% from the previous session’s volume of 9,409,465 shares.The stock last traded at $33.00 and had previously closed at $33.74.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on KDP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler began coverage on Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Keurig Dr Pepper from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.23.

Insider Transactions at Keurig Dr Pepper

In other news, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab bought 3,619,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.34 per share, with a total value of $120,677,464.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 218,063,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,236,389.86. This trade represents a 1.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Keurig Dr Pepper

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,587,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,841,140,000 after buying an additional 22,856,757 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 102,183,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,829,824,000 after acquiring an additional 9,105,164 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,602,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,646,179 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,656,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,755,564,000 after acquiring an additional 14,473,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,609,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,289,000 after acquiring an additional 4,970,467 shares during the last quarter. 93.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Keurig Dr Pepper Trading Down 2.1 %

The company has a market cap of $44.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Keurig Dr Pepper had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s payout ratio is currently 55.76%.

About Keurig Dr Pepper

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.