PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s share price shot up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $146.17 and last traded at $145.83. 1,593,595 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 5,716,523 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $180.64.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $157.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.51.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 17,113.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,220,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,626,000 after acquiring an additional 3,201,676 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775,679 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 211.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after buying an additional 1,592,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,059 shares in the last quarter. 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.