SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 406.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,789,959 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,436,216 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $256,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PEP. State Street Corp raised its stake in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,330,594,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,476,000 after buying an additional 958,701 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after buying an additional 118,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $150.88 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.93. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The firm has a market cap of $206.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

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

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on PepsiCo from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.00.

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.