Short Interest in Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) Rises By 8.4%

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ:KDP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,720,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the March 15th total of 12,660,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,910,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KDP shares. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Keurig Dr Pepper from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Keurig Dr Pepper has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert James Gamgort acquired 171,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.10 per share, for a total transaction of $4,999,991.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,179,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,535,584.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Keurig Dr Pepper news, CEO Robert James Gamgort acquired 171,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.10 per share, with a total value of $4,999,991.10. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 3,179,917 shares in the company, valued at $92,535,584.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings B.V. Jab sold 51,956,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.90, for a total transaction of $1,501,543,485.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 331,487,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,579,984,617.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,012,132 shares of company stock worth $2,890,354,861. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Keurig Dr Pepper

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,604,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,820,000 after buying an additional 509,393 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 294,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,824,000 after buying an additional 36,560 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,099,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,624,000 after buying an additional 334,954 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper in the third quarter worth about $245,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Keurig Dr Pepper by 15.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,994,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,396,000 after buying an additional 1,044,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.23% of the company’s stock.

Keurig Dr Pepper Price Performance

Keurig Dr Pepper stock opened at $30.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.27 and a 200-day moving average of $31.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.66. Keurig Dr Pepper has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $35.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Keurig Dr Pepper had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 9.93%. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Keurig Dr Pepper will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Keurig Dr Pepper Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Keurig Dr Pepper’s payout ratio is 55.48%.

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.