BankPlus Trust Department Acquires Shares of 6,815 PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,036,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 15.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 293,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,016,000 after purchasing an additional 40,031 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 211.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,345,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592,343 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in PepsiCo by 16.1% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 15,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,133 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 3.0 %

PEP opened at $153.50 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The company has a market cap of $210.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.11.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Profile

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.