PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $174.00 and last traded at $173.55. Approximately 641,138 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,451,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The firm had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 3,345.6% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 179,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,391,000 after acquiring an additional 174,171 shares during the period. M&G Plc raised its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 426,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,334,000 after acquiring an additional 14,724 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its position in PepsiCo by 32.7% during the first quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 23,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,079,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737 shares during the period. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 1,320.5% during the first quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 31,072 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.