PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.53.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $175.21 on Tuesday. PepsiCo has a one year low of $155.83 and a one year high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $168.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,686,139,000. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 125.2% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,631 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 429.3% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,603,000 after buying an additional 1,179,922 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About PepsiCo

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.