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

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $192.00.

PEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Argus increased their price target on PepsiCo from $206.00 to $212.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $179.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $247.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $182.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.84. PepsiCo has a 52-week low of $160.98 and a 52-week high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 13th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $22.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.73 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.05% and a net margin of 8.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 100,174.2% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 531,509,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,446,186,000 after purchasing an additional 530,979,425 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 110,578,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,481,325,000 after acquiring an additional 987,829 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,055,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,938,322,000 after acquiring an additional 489,175 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 95,514.1% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,876,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,746,023,000 after purchasing an additional 42,831,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,063,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,998,981,000 after purchasing an additional 937,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.40% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells 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.