PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Bought by ABN Amro Investment Solutions

ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,937 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,424 shares during the quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the first quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 10.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 536,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,789,000 after purchasing an additional 167,707 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.7%

PepsiCo stock opened at $149.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $204.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $154.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.11.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to highlight PepsiCo’s portfolio reset, pricing power, and innovation in zero-sugar, functional, and “better-for-you” snacks and drinks as potential growth drivers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest Rs 5,700 crore through 2030 to expand capacity, which could support long-term growth in an important international market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: At the annual meeting, shareholders elected David W. Gibbs to the board and rejected proposals for an independent board chair and additional human-rights and animal-welfare reporting, suggesting governance issues remain in focus but are not a major near-term catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing PepsiCo with Coca-Cola underscores that PEP is working to balance pricing power and distribution scale against margin pressure from higher input and operating costs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports say PepsiCo plans to raise prices on some smaller chip bags because of higher production, distribution, and retail expenses in the U.S., which may raise concerns about volume softness if consumers push back. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly cut its price target on PepsiCo to $160, adding to the cautious tone around near-term margins and execution. Article Title

About PepsiCo

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.