PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.6% Following Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $185.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $180.63 and last traded at $178.54. 2,640,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research 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, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.42.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 194 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $242.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $169.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.70.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 company posted $1.50 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

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.