PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $135.41 and last traded at $134.64. 2,183,182 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,137,872 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. CICC Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. Finally, HSBC cut their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.66. The company has a market cap of $183.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 19,106.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,017,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564,723 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd 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. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.