PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

PEP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.50.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $159.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $155.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,835,000 after buying an additional 360,936 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 9.7% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,406,000 after buying an additional 2,556,163 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,018,813,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Product innovation and brand initiatives support long‑term growth — PepsiCo is rolling out Gatorade Lower Sugar nationwide, expanding poppi into the U.K., and using pop‑culture tie‑ins for bubly, signalling renewed focus on higher‑growth, “better‑for‑you” beverage categories that can help revenue/margin mix over time. PepsiCo Leans On Health Drinks And Pop Culture As Shares Lag Targets
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly results and underlying sales growth remain supportive — post‑Q4 coverage discusses the modest EPS beat and revenue growth, reinforcing the company’s steady cash generation and dividend/ buyback capacity. This underpins investor confidence in the defensive consumer staple story. PepsiCo (PEP): Buy, sell, or hold post Q4 earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Large bullish options activity suggests some traders expect a rally — unusually high call buying (vastly above average daily volume) can indicate speculative or hedged bullish interest that may fuel upward momentum if fundamentals or sentiment improve. (Note: internal market data)
• Neutral Sentiment: Income appeal remains a structural tailwind — dividend‑focused publications continue to highlight PepsiCo as a holding for yield/defensive exposure amid macro uncertainty, which can support the share price over time even if near‑term volatility occurs. The NASDAQ Dividend Stocks Retirees Are Loading Up On Before The Next Rate Cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector re‑rating conversations persist — consumer‑staples roundups list PepsiCo among stable dividend names; useful for longer‑term allocation but unlikely to trigger sharp immediate moves absent new data. 5 Consumer-Staples Stocks to Buy as the Market Gets Shakier
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest update — recent reporting on short interest provides data investors watch for squeeze/pressure dynamics but by itself doesn’t change fundamentals. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Update
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/investor‑litigation headline increases risk premium — a new investor alert around possible breaches of fiduciary duty draws attention to governance/legal risk that can pressure sentiment and valuation. PEPSICO, INC. INVESTOR ALERT: Scott+Scott … Investigates PepsiCo, Inc.’s Directors and Officers
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term analyst/market skepticism — coverage noting that shares are “lagging targets” and articles flagging the stock among “unpopular” names highlight downward analyst pressure and sentiment risk, which can drive short‑term selling. 3 Unpopular Stocks with Open Questions
• Negative Sentiment: Price underperformance versus the market — headlines documenting a recent intraday dip show immediate selling pressure; combined with low average volume today, this can amplify moves on negative news. PepsiCo (PEP) Dips More Than Broader Market: What You Should Know

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.