Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 3,475 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 19.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,164 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,475 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $3,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 3,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 25,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,850,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,242,000 after buying an additional 2,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $131.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $180.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.75 and a one year high of $180.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.62.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted 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). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

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.