PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PEP. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.64.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.3 %

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 stock has a market cap of $200.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $158.60 and a 200 day moving average of $166.97.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 79.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. State Street Corp raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775,679 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after purchasing an additional 543,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,632,413,000 after buying an additional 1,125,059 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,293,049,000 after buying an additional 2,264,445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.