PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $185.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $182.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $174.00 price objective on the stock. DZ Bank lowered PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $183.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $185.53.

PepsiCo Trading Down 2.0 %

PEP opened at $171.18 on Friday. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $183.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.51 and a 200-day moving average of $171.87. The stock has a market cap of $235.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 26,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,923 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 116.9% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 617,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,764,000 after buying an additional 332,558 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at about $223,000. Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.5% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 57,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,544,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 13.3% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 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.