Short Interest in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Increases By 16.0%

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,920,000 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the February 13th total of 18,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 7,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 11.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after acquiring an additional 61,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $147.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,946,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,375,564. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo has a 1-year low of $141.51 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.97 and its 200-day moving average is $159.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.99%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.