PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $183.92.

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $179.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after buying an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after buying an additional 1,125,059 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after purchasing an additional 905,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $157.79 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $166.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.52. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $155.85 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.94%.

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.