Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 16,284 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 230,480 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,284 shares during the period. PepsiCo accounts for approximately 0.8% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $39,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in PepsiCo by 7.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,547,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,234,400,000 after buying an additional 905,468 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,147,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,632,000 after purchasing an additional 700,092 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 8.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,403,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,089,000 after purchasing an additional 561,465 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,130,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $846,030,000 after buying an additional 57,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,876,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,036,000 after buying an additional 492,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $158.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.66 and its 200-day moving average is $171.16. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.85 and a 1-year high of $183.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $217.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.53.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.01. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 57.32%. The firm had revenue of $23.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $183.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered PepsiCo from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.92.

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.