Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Purchases 92,329 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 365.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92,329 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises about 1.2% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after buying an additional 3,235,726 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 406.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Varun Beverages extended their exclusive bottling agreement in India through 2049, giving PepsiCo greater distribution stability and more flexibility to grow in a key international market.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced new growth initiatives in Asia-Pacific and a regenerated agriculture partnership with LDC, both of which support the company’s sustainability efforts and supply-chain resilience.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to push product innovation, including a new functional ready-to-drink tea, which may help offset slowing demand in some core snack categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest about Rs 5,700 crore by 2030 to expand capacity, a sign of confidence in demand but also a longer-term capital commitment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and recent features suggest PepsiCo still has a credible growth story thanks to pricing power, distribution scale, and expansion into better-for-you products, but these articles do not point to a near-term earnings surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo is raising prices on smaller chip bags highlight rising costs in the business and could increase consumer pushback, potentially pressuring volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost inflation remains a concern, and the need for selective price increases suggests PepsiCo is still facing margin pressure in its U.S. snack business.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $148.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally 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.