PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) Trading Up 0.9% on Earnings Beat

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $173.41 and last traded at $172.74. Approximately 1,831,636 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 5,747,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.22.

The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PEP shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup upgraded PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

Institutional Trading of PepsiCo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 16.8% in the first quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 17,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2,475 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.5% in the first quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. One Day In July LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 19.8% in the first quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the first quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 10,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.9% in the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 6,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $169.22 and a 200-day moving average of $167.76. The firm has a market cap of $242.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96.

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.