Keudell Morrison Wealth Management Buys New Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Keudell Morrison Wealth Management bought a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo News Roundup

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 Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $148.85 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38.

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

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given a $1.48 dividend. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 89.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

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.