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

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price 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 traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.59.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $202.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 40,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,935,000 after buying an additional 6,704 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 329.3% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by 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.