PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $160.00. The stock had previously closed at $150.27, but opened at $146.10. PepsiCo shares last traded at $147.12, with a volume of 2,255,308 shares.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.53.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 4.3 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $152.86 and its 200-day moving average is $164.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $197.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

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.