PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 1.6%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares shot up 1.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $175.69 and last traded at $175.69. 1,173,434 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 5,427,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.53.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $246.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.53.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,028,000. Creekside Partners bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at $588,000. Centennial Bank AR increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 5,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at $141,000. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.