PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.75.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.0%

PEP opened at $143.78 on Friday. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $160.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $147.27 and its 200 day moving average is $143.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $298,000. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $424,000. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 841.4% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 45,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,451,000 after buying an additional 41,054 shares during the period. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.9% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 13,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP grew its stake in PepsiCo by 154.6% during the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 32,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,608,000 after acquiring an additional 19,965 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.