PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Down 2.2% – Should You Sell?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) fell 2.2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $151.80 and last traded at $152.85. 3,089,143 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 5,457,455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.35.

PepsiCo Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.62.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after buying an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.