PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Rating Increased to Hold at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.83.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $164.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $150.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.62. The company has a market cap of $225.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The business had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth about $872,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 185,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,627 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 122.6% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 20,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 11,217 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 152,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,096,000 after purchasing an additional 13,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,659,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330,888 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is accelerating innovation in beverages and snacks — national rollout of a prebiotic soda and R&D into fiber/hydration products could support long‑term revenue mix improvement and higher margin innovation. PepsiCo Bets On Prebiotic Cola And Fiber Snacks To Sustain Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Consumers appear to be responding well to recent snack price cuts, which management says are helping demand — that can support volume recovery even if it compresses near‑term margins. PepsiCo Says Consumers Like Price Cuts on Snacks
• Positive Sentiment: Marketing and brand efforts targeting Gen Z — including a creator‑led chips launch — may help refresh the portfolio and boost penetration in younger cohorts. PepsiCo’s first creator-led product launch reimagines chips for Gen Z
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend durability remains a support for the stock — PepsiCo declared and paid its quarterly dividend, continuing a long streak attractive to income investors (PEP yields ~3.4%). Retirees Are Quietly Accumulating This 8% Dividend Grower
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the CAGNY conference — slides and transcript provide detail on strategy and outlook; useful for validating margin, pricing and innovation commentary but not a near‑term earnings shock. CAGNY conference transcript CAGNY slideshow
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research cut EPS estimates across multiple quarters and trimmed FY2027 guidance (FY2027 cut from $9.13 to $8.63), lowering several quarterly EPS forecasts — this is the main near‑term negative catalyst as it reduces street expectations and can weigh on forward multiples. (Zacks releases summarized to investors)

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.