PepsiCo’s (PEP) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $195.00 price target on the stock.

PEP has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $171.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $155.83 and a 52 week high of $196.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.84 and its 200 day moving average is $167.63. The firm has a market cap of $235.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 58.03%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,747,000 after acquiring an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,747,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.