Chancellor Financial Group WB LP Acquires New Shares in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000. PepsiCo makes up about 1.3% of Chancellor Financial Group WB LP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $2,729,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth about $589,307,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,297,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after buying an additional 1,376,133 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $131.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $138.84 and its 200-day moving average is $147.83.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.