PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• PepsiCo has a consensus brokerage rating of “Hold”, based on 19 analysts: 1 sell, 10 hold, and 8 buy ratings. The average 1-year price target is about $169.58.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.61 versus estimates of $1.55 and revenue of $19.44 billion versus $18.89 billion expected. Revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• PepsiCo also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share, up from $1.42, implying an annualized payout of $5.92 and a yield of 4.1%. Institutional ownership remains high at 73.07%.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $169.5789.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Evercore lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. HSBC lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $142.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $195.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.35. PepsiCo has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.80 and a 200-day moving average of $152.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 92.94%.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Gatik launched a commercial driverless trucking deployment across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas, signaling potential supply-chain and cost-efficiency benefits. PepsiCo and Gatik launch commercial driverless trucking deployment
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of PepsiCo’s 41 fully driverless delivery trucks highlighted the company’s progress in autonomous logistics and helped boost investor sentiment. Driverless Trucks Are Here—and They're Delivering Bags of Doritos
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggested PepsiCo may be worth reconsidering after its recent pullback, reflecting a valuation debate rather than a clear new catalyst. Is It Time To Reconsider PepsiCo (PEP) After The Recent 9% Share Price Pullback

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,039,000 after buying an additional 3,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 45.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 536,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,789,000 after buying an additional 167,707 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc NASDAQ: PEP is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay's, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.