PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price rose 0.6% 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 changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 578,083 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 595,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $2,686,139,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in PepsiCo by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,664,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,641,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,954,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,520,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,065 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $241.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.86.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 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.