Van Strum & Towne Inc. Has $6.15 Million Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo comprises 2.1% of Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,280,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,133 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $2,729,565,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,062,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,108,585,000 after purchasing an additional 49,699 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $160.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.93.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock traded down $1.57 on Monday, reaching $141.68. 288,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,213,661. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.23 and its 200-day moving average is $141.04. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.60 and a one year high of $180.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.23% and a return on equity of 57.81%. The company had revenue of $22.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 103.64%.

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.