Citigroup Cuts PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target to $170.00

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $195.00 to $170.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

PEP has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.5 %

PepsiCo stock opened at $144.58 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.26. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,013,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,130,841,000 after buying an additional 689,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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. 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.