PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $185.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $180.63 and last traded at $178.54. Approximately 2,640,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

PEP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Alta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 16.8% during the first quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 17,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 0.5% during the first quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 19.8% during the first quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% during the first quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 10,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 6,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.76. The company has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.