PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $168.50.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $158.79. The stock had a trading volume of 621,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,502,969. PepsiCo has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.48. The firm has a market cap of $217.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,018,813,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,726,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863,893 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 120.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.5% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,056,797,000 after buying an additional 2,541,455 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PepsiCo

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.