PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price traded up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $153.15 and last traded at $152.06. 4,274,157 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 5,585,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $190.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.31.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.2 %

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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.37. The firm has a market cap of $206.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.52.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its stake in PepsiCo by 145.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 390 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. SK Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth $384,000. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 27.2% in the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the third quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 657,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,805,000 after buying an additional 118,983 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.