Traders Buy Large Volume of PepsiCo Call Options (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 207,631 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 680% compared to the typical volume of 26,613 call options.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock traded down $3.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $160.70. 7,100,014 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,752,764. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.17.

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

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at about $872,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 185,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,627 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 20,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 11,217 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 11.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,659,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,888 shares during the period. Finally, Amica Retiree Medical Trust bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at approximately $124,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PEP. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.50.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.