Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,029 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $76,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PEP. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4%

PEP stock opened at $131.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.87 and a one year high of $182.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 83.68%.

PepsiCo Company 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.