Citigroup Cuts PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target to $160.00

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PEP. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $134.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,480,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,151,966. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $131.61 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $184.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $147.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.37.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 79.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,831 shares of the company's stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,062,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,108,585,000 after buying an additional 49,699 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 77,905 shares of the company's stock worth $11,681,000 after buying an additional 4,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 71.1% in the 1st quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 29,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 12,463 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.