PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.5 %

PEP opened at $166.34 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.20. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $158.03 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced 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 business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17,113.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,626,000 after buying an additional 3,201,676 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 67.2% during the 1st 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. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 211.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 125.2% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after buying an additional 1,523,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.