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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $171.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $179.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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 firm has a market capitalization of $195.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.35 and a 200-day moving average of $166.51.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 79.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 59.0% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.