Analysts Set PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target at $158.50

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $158.75.

A number of research firms have issued reports on PEP. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $172.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $146.00 to $145.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $148.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.42. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $160.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.00 and a 200 day moving average of $142.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.17%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.