PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $160.69.

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. CICC Research reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock worth $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock worth $18,977,000 after purchasing an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,178,000 after buying an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,899,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 147.6% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 8,759 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP traded down $0.30 on Friday, reaching $131.62. 12,988,871 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,558,275. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $137.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.27. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $127.75 and a 12 month high of $180.91. 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 market cap of $180.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.68%.

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.