PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.9% on Earnings Beat

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $173.41 and last traded at $172.74. 1,831,636 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 5,747,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.22.

The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Argus cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.42.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,747,000 after purchasing an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.76.

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.