PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Lifted to Hold at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.

PEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $183.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.1 %

PEP stock opened at $174.81 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.08. PepsiCo has a 12 month low of $157.43 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $240.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 EPS 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%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 78.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 4,560,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,385 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 125.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,740,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,631 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 429.3% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,454,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,922 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth approximately $166,243,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,400,000 after acquiring an additional 905,468 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.