PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

PEP has been the subject of several other reports. DZ Bank downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley downgraded PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $174.67 on Thursday. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $158.03 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $240.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.32% and a net margin of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,868,000. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 25,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.