Van ECK Associates Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,948,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,142 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.22% of PepsiCo worth $414,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at $2,330,594,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 14,420.2% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,890,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,863,893 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,031,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,833,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,163 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PepsiCo by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,577,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,056,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541,455 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 112.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,040,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on PepsiCo from $163.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $164.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.50.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $161.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The firm has a market cap of $220.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $155.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

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.