PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Up 16.0% in February

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,920,000 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the February 13th total of 18,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas cut their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $148.11. 6,079,133 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,399,071. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. Analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PepsiCo

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.