PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas Exane

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $179.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s target price points to a potential upside of 22.45% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $164.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.11.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $146.18 on Friday. PepsiCo has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $160.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $145.55 and its 200 day moving average is $144.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after buying an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at $251,000. Balefire LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter valued at about $322,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 11,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.