Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 1,458,592 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,372,675 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,458,592 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $445,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,726,000 after buying an additional 3,863,893 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $460,110,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 19.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,056,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541,455 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.4%

PEP stock opened at $149.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $203.79 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $147.12 and its 200 day moving average is $142.07. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $160.15.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. PepsiCo had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 57.58%. The company had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 108.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. HSBC lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.35.

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.