PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Lowered to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $170.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $171.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 target price for the company. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.59.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $148.17 on Wednesday. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by 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.