PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $185.53.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $170.00 on Monday. PepsiCo has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $233.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.95.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 210.2% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 9,770 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 26,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 3,923 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 116.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 617,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,764,000 after acquiring an additional 332,558 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.5% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 57,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,544,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.