Associated Banc Corp Sells 7,091 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Associated Banc Corp cut its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,091 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 14.1% in the second quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 5,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 114,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,098,000 after buying an additional 36,239 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in PepsiCo by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 25,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 2.3% in the second quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 26,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $146.00 to $145.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. DZ Bank upgraded PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.90.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $145.50 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $165.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $23.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

About PepsiCo

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.