PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Short Interest Update

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 20,841,738 shares, a decrease of 29.7% from the February 12th total of 29,665,371 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,750,807 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 6,750,807 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,672,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,509,787. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39. PepsiCo has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $156.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that PepsiCo will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepsiCo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in PepsiCo by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 55,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 6,830 shares in the last quarter. Winthrop Partners WNY LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $479,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Advisortrust Partners LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,947,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,545,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,101,000 after acquiring an additional 120,119 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PEP shares. Evercore upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.00.

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.