RWC Asset Management LLP Trims Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

RWC Asset Management LLP reduced its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,075 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for about 1.2% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $24,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.58.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $141.92 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.54. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $193.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.35. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

About PepsiCo

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.