Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 494,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,235,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.88.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $146.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $201.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.49. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.21.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

PepsiCo 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.