PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.9% Higher – What’s Next?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price traded up 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $150.26 and last traded at $150.40. 1,356,390 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,721,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $148.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $210.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 9.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,968,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after purchasing an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.