PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) shot up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $146.67 and last traded at $146.54. 6,776,833 shares traded hands 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 equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of 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. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.64.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $158.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.82. The company has a market cap of $201.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 44.8% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 12.2% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 2.5% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 26,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in PepsiCo by 8.5% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 0.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 272,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.