PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.8%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was up 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $168.34 and last traded at $168.29. Approximately 963,106 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,697,360 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $232.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $168.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 78.2% in the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,722,000 after purchasing an additional 6,825 shares during the period. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 7.1% in the first quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Scott Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 0.8% in the first quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 1,320.5% in the first quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 31,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.