Lafayette Investments Inc. Acquires 3,553 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,264 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up 1.7% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 277,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of PEP traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $172.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,790,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,670,573. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $236.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.265 per share. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.92.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.