PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $187.42.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,001,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,227,287,000 after buying an additional 578,083 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,878,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,812,000 after acquiring an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,520,909,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PEP opened at $176.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $169.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.76. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

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.