PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $185.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $180.63 and last traded at $178.54. Approximately 2,640,200 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

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.