PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 20,841,738 shares, a decline of 29.7% from the February 12th total of 29,665,371 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,750,807 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 6,750,807 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Eight research 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 55,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830 shares in the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $479,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Advisortrust Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $2,947,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,545,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,101,000 after acquiring an additional 120,119 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $158.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,494,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,216,723. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $156.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $216.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly 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. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

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.