Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $38.00.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Keurig Dr Pepper from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $39.00 price objective on Keurig Dr Pepper in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.38.

Keurig Dr Pepper Stock Performance

Shares of KDP opened at $34.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.48. Keurig Dr Pepper has a 12 month low of $30.12 and a 12 month high of $38.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.62.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Keurig Dr Pepper will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Keurig Dr Pepper’s dividend payout ratio is 87.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mary Beth Denooyer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total value of $408,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 187,537 shares in the company, valued at $6,385,634.85. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab bought 3,619,600 shares of Keurig Dr Pepper stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $33.34 per share, with a total value of $120,677,464.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 218,063,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,270,236,389.86. This represents a 1.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,397,350 shares of company stock worth $2,756,292,570 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,587,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,841,140,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856,757 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,602,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,561,000 after buying an additional 5,646,179 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Keurig Dr Pepper by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,656,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,755,564,000 after buying an additional 14,473,054 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Keurig Dr Pepper by 10.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,609,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,289,000 after acquiring an additional 4,970,467 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Keurig Dr Pepper by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,511,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962,195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.99% of the company’s stock.

Keurig Dr Pepper Company Profile

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc owns, manufactures, and distributors beverages and single serve brewing systems in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Refreshment Beverages, U.S. Coffee, and International. The U.S. Refreshment Beverages segment manufactures and distributes branded concentrates, syrup, and finished beverages.