PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)’s stock price shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $146.67 and last traded at $146.54. 6,776,833 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 0% from the average session volume of 6,782,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. StockNews.com raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler began coverage on PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.64.

PepsiCo Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a market cap of $195.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $23.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after acquiring an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $9,589,000. 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.