PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $170.1053.

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $150.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $154.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 89.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in PepsiCo by 14,857.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after acquiring an additional 48,923,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $3,018,813,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16,146.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,586,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564,348 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here’s Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
• Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

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.