PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $152.33, but opened at $147.55. PepsiCo shares last traded at $149.04, with a volume of 1,304,224 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. BNP Paribas lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.59.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.90 and a 200 day moving average of $160.46. 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 $202.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after acquiring an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.