PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares dropped 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $141.60 and last traded at $143.26. 2,083,472 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 6,711,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PEP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Up 2.3 %

The company has a market cap of $204.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.54. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.49.

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. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. 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 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 15.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,016,000 after buying an additional 40,031 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 3.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 207,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,334 shares during the period. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at about $85,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.