Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP)
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemPepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 88,181 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 272% compared to the average volume of 23,720 call options.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms recently weighed in on PEP. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.37.
PepsiCo Price Performance
Shares of PepsiCo stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, hitting $148.93. The company had a trading volume of 3,664,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,253,922. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $203.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
PepsiCo Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 89.32%.
PepsiCo declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
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.