PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.1% - Still a Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $155.34 and last traded at $154.36. Approximately 1,278,635 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 7,112,405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BNP Paribas dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $172.35.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $209.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $148.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PEP. Copley Financial Group Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 4,210.1% in the 4th quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 2,905 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 12,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $160,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $221,297,000. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,000. 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.