Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $40.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Approximately 13,843,231 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 47% from the previous session’s volume of 9,409,465 shares.The stock last traded at $33.00 and had previously closed at $33.74.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KDP. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Keurig Dr Pepper from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Keurig Dr Pepper from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Keurig Dr Pepper has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Bevco B.V. Jab bought 3,619,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 218,063,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,270,236,389.86. The trade was a 1.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Keurig Dr Pepper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 15,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 7,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.99% of the company’s stock.

Keurig Dr Pepper Price Performance

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 has a market cap of $45.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.93.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.01. Keurig Dr Pepper had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 15.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s payout ratio is presently 55.76%.

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.