Analysts Set PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Price Target at $159.75

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $159.75.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepsiCo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $131.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $179.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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 $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

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.