PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price traded up 0.6% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $178.00 to $181.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. PepsiCo traded as high as $180.63 and last traded at $178.54. 2,640,200 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 5,808,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.41.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Argus cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 400,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,110,000 after buying an additional 15,700 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16.4% in the first quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 65,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,499,000 after acquiring an additional 9,250 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 18.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 89,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,605,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Finally, Eudaimonia Advisors LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC now owns 4,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $244.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.09%.

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.