Westover Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Westover Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 130.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,181 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in 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 lifted its position in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,005,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,479,000 after buying an additional 102,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in PepsiCo by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $150.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $154.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.52. The company has a market capitalization of $205.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

Trending Headlines about PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here’s Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
• Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

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.