PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Position Increased by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,370 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,436 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 107.1% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 667.7% in the third quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.00.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.6%

PEP opened at $159.88 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.71 and a 200-day moving average of $149.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $218.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

PepsiCo announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Company 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.