PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.9% on Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price shot up 0.9% during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $182.00 to $185.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $171.94 and last traded at $171.62. 1,340,716 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 5,468,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.05.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. DZ Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,673,632,000 after purchasing an additional 700,092 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after purchasing an additional 561,465 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares during the period. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% during the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after buying an additional 1,832,385 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.15. The stock has a market cap of $231.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.66%.

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.