Profund Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,792 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,392 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,406,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,945,000 after acquiring an additional 537,750 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 122,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,580,000 after purchasing an additional 23,788 shares during the last quarter. Stronghold Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $331,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 44,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.11.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of PEP opened at $149.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $203.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 89.32%.

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

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some market coverage points to PepsiCo as a possible momentum winner in consumer staples, suggesting investors are still rotating into defensive, dividend-paying names. Pepsi, Apple, and 9 More AI Momentum Trade Winners. Plus 4 Losers to Dump.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to screen as an attractive income stock, with recent dividend-focused articles reinforcing its status as a long-running dividend grower. From High-Yield to High-Growth: 3 Stocks Boosting Dividends
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent pieces argue PepsiCo is fairly priced and not a bargain versus peers, which suggests limited near-term upside unless fundamentals improve further. PepsiCo: Fairly Priced, But Not A Deal Compared To Peers
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo cut its price target on PepsiCo to $160 from $165 and kept an equal-weight rating, a sign that analysts see more limited near-term appreciation. Wells Fargo adjusts price target on PepsiCo to $160 from $165, maintains equalweight rating
• Negative Sentiment: One recent article noted PepsiCo has pulled back over the past week despite a strong first-quarter earnings report, which may be weighing on sentiment. PepsiCo’s Next Big Rally Could Be Just Getting Started

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.