Intellus Advisors LLC Invests $564,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 120.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $830,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612,652 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in PepsiCo by 151.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 2,597,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 406.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $148.85 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $154.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The company has a market cap of $203.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 4.0%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PEP. HSBC lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

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.