Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Buys 18,036 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,515 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,036 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 12,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,287,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 329,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,355,000 after purchasing an additional 103,344 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Capital LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $379,000. Finally, Chancellor Financial Group WB LP increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP now owns 14,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $149.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo 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.