Dr Pepper Snapple shares get tepid reception

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc (DPS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares began trading in New York on Wednesday at a lower-than-expected $25, showing that U.S. investors are hesitant to invest in the country's third-largest soft drink maker.

But the shares of Dr Pepper Snapple, which was just separated from British confectionary company Cadbury Plc (CBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are trading on the New York Stock Exchange in line with where its "when issued" shares were trading. Ahead of the spinoff, when-issued shares made their debut last week at $29 and fell 13.6 percent to close on Tuesday at $25.05.

After being relatively flat most of the day, the maker of Schweppes ginger ale, Hawaiian Punch and Mott's apple juice, saw a flurry of late afternoon buying, which sent its shares up 45 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $25.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"The Street seems to be pretty negative overall on the company and neutral on the stock," said Morningstar analyst Mitchell Corwin, noting that Dr Pepper has not given any near-term earnings guidance, which has created "a certain lack of transparency.

"I think a lot of people are in 'wait-and-see' mode. The company is really going to have to prove itself in the next couple of quarters, when it starts posting results as an independent company, I think, to generate more interest in the stock."

Dr Pepper Snapple has said its longer-term target is to increase annual revenue by 3 percent to 5 percent and earnings-per-share by 7 percent to 9 percent.

But analysts are skeptical about its prospects, since Dr Pepper lacks the scale and portfolio of rivals such as Coca-Cola Co (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its business is almost all in the United States, where soft drink sales are slipping amid rising health consciousness.

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