PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $182.29.

Several analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $183.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.6 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $145.40 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a one year low of $145.34 and a one year high of $183.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $158.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.97. The company has a market capitalization of $199.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 79.94%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17,113.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.