PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading 0.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $174.00 and last traded at $173.55. Approximately 641,138 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,451,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. DZ Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $183.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised PepsiCo to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $236.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $173.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.25.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 3,345.6% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 179,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,391,000 after purchasing an additional 174,171 shares during the period. M&G Plc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 426,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,334,000 after purchasing an additional 14,724 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 23,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,079,000 after buying an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1,320.5% in the 1st quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 31,072 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.