PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.50.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $161.53 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $155.39 and a 200-day moving average of $149.38. The firm has a market cap of $220.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the second quarter worth $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.