Rothschild & Co Redburn Raises PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target to $132.00

Key Points

• Rothschild & Co Redburn raised PepsiCo’s price target from $130 to $132, though that still implies downside from the stock’s prior close.
• Other analysts remain mixed on PepsiCo: recent target changes ranged from RBC’s slight cut to JPMorgan’s increase, and MarketBeat says the stock overall carries an average “Hold” rating with a $170.37 average price target.
• PepsiCo’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $1.61 versus $1.55 expected and revenue of $19.44 billion, while the company also has an active $10 billion share buyback authorization.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $130.00 to $132.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn's price objective suggests a potential downside of 14.63% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on PEP. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $154.62 on Monday. PepsiCo has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $171.48. The company has a market cap of $211.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $157.25 and a 200-day moving average of $152.50. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company's stock worth $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,617,937 shares of the company's stock worth $4,814,835,000 after purchasing an additional 360,936 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,090,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,031,646,000 after buying an additional 295,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

About PepsiCo

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.

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