Sage Capital Advisors llc Buys 24,408 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sage Capital Advisors llc lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 64.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,473 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,408 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises 2.5% of Sage Capital Advisors llc’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sage Capital Advisors llc’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $9,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PEP. Ossiam increased its position in PepsiCo by 138.9% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 73,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,192,000 after acquiring an additional 42,793 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in PepsiCo by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 124,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,977,000 after acquiring an additional 13,461 shares during the period. Hutner Capital Management Inc. increased its position in PepsiCo by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Hutner Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,178,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,899,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 147.6% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 14,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 8,759 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. Citigroup lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP opened at $131.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $180.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.75 and a fifty-two week high of $180.91.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.