PepsiCo's (PEP) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a $148.00 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PEP. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Dbs Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.75.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP traded up $2.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $131.03. The stock had a trading volume of 8,523,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,897,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $180.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $132.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.22.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 58.28%. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company's stock worth $11,192,000 after purchasing an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company's stock worth $18,977,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the fourth 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. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 630,906 shares of the company's stock worth $94,598,000 after acquiring an additional 21,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $47,899,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.