Davis Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ossiam grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,977,000 after acquiring an additional 13,461 shares in the last quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,899,000. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 17,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 4,825 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.5%

PEP opened at $129.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $135.04 and its 200-day moving average is $145.63. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.75 and a 1-year high of $180.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $178.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on PEP shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

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.