PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) rose 2.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $158.46 and last traded at $157.02. Approximately 3,098,227 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 6,890,654 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. Barclays decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. HSBC dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PepsiCo

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.