PepsiCo’s (PEP) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Bank of America reiterated their neutral rating on shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $155.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $185.00.

PEP has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.12.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $142.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.43. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $138.33 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market cap of $195.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49.

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

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised 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 worth $188,031,000 after purchasing an additional 61,541 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 147.6% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 8,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,529,000 after buying an additional 18,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.