PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shares shot up 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $175.47 and last traded at $174.66. 499,398 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 5,476,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $174.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $183.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $240.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $173.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Violich Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% during the third quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 90,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,404,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 1,206.0% in the 3rd quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 28,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 26,339 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 1.3% in the third quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 7,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 115,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 256.6% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 2,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.