PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target Lowered to $160.00 at Citigroup

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $156.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.00.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $133.38 on Friday. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $131.80 and a 52 week high of $183.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.66.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after buying an additional 3,856,193 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,494,300,000 after buying an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.