PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

PEP has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $171.79 on Friday. PepsiCo has a 52-week low of $158.03 and a 52-week high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $236.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.25.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in PepsiCo by 8.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after buying an additional 561,465 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in 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 increased its position 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 valued at $798,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.