PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Shares Bought by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,703 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,685 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $36,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the second quarter valued at $27,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 667.7% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $161.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $150.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.51. 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 data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The firm had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $167.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.83.

About PepsiCo

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.