PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas Exane

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) was upgraded by BNP Paribas Exane from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $179.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.33% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PEP. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.32.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $146.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.67. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $160.15. The stock has a market cap of $200.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14.1% in the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 4.6% in the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,098,000 after purchasing an additional 36,239 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at $872,000. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.