PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $148.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PEP. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.75.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $128.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $175.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.22. PepsiCo has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.68%.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

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.