Global Retirement Partners LLC Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 48.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,451 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,671 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after purchasing an additional 19,218 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after purchasing an additional 42,335 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 622.3% during the 4th quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,110,000 after purchasing an additional 30,674 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 252,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,451,000 after purchasing an additional 40,947 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 96.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 40,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,671,000 after purchasing an additional 19,829 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $148.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PEP. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

Key Headlines Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Varun Beverages extended their exclusive bottling agreement in India through 2049, giving PepsiCo greater distribution stability and more flexibility to grow in a key international market.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced new growth initiatives in Asia-Pacific and a regenerated agriculture partnership with LDC, both of which support the company’s sustainability efforts and supply-chain resilience.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to push product innovation, including a new functional ready-to-drink tea, which may help offset slowing demand in some core snack categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest about Rs 5,700 crore by 2030 to expand capacity, a sign of confidence in demand but also a longer-term capital commitment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and recent features suggest PepsiCo still has a credible growth story thanks to pricing power, distribution scale, and expansion into better-for-you products, but these articles do not point to a near-term earnings surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo is raising prices on smaller chip bags highlight rising costs in the business and could increase consumer pushback, potentially pressuring volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost inflation remains a concern, and the need for selective price increases suggests PepsiCo is still facing margin pressure in its U.S. snack business.

PepsiCo Company Profile

PepsiCo, Inc (NASDAQ: PEP) is a multinational food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, New York. The company develops, manufactures, markets and sells a broad portfolio of branded food and beverage products, including carbonated and noncarbonated soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, salty snacks, cereals, and other convenient foods. Its leading consumer brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Quaker, Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos, among others.

Formed through the 1965 merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, PepsiCo has grown into a global business with integrated manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations.