Vantus Wealth LLC Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Vantus Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter worth approximately $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 138.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 3,790 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in PepsiCo by 10.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,039,000 after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in PepsiCo by 45.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 536,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,789,000 after acquiring an additional 167,707 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus upgraded PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $141.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $193.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $171.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.64.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 92.94%.

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

About PepsiCo

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.