PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target Raised to $185.00

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $184.00 to $185.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PEP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of PEP stock traded down $0.73 on Thursday, reaching $176.68. 7,436,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,872,530. The company has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The business's 50 day moving average price is $169.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 993,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,747,000 after buying an additional 370,122 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,747,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $405,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 13,240 shares of the company's stock worth $2,243,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.