Barr E S & Co. Reduces Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Barr E S & Co. lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,206 shares during the period. PepsiCo makes up 0.6% of Barr E S & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Barr E S & Co.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $12,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after acquiring an additional 958,701 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after acquiring an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $149.12 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $203.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.42. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48.

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. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors 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 89.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PEP. UBS Group lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.37.

PepsiCo 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.