Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 4,208 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,996 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,208 shares during the period. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in PepsiCo by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 554,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,916,000 after purchasing an additional 19,218 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 622.3% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 35,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,110,000 after buying an additional 30,674 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in PepsiCo by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 415,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,600,000 after acquiring an additional 42,335 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19.3% in the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 252,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,451,000 after acquiring an additional 40,947 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 40,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,671,000 after acquiring an additional 19,829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore upped their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Varun Beverages extended their exclusive bottling agreement in India through 2049, giving PepsiCo greater distribution stability and more flexibility to grow in a key international market.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced new growth initiatives in Asia-Pacific and a regenerated agriculture partnership with LDC, both of which support the company’s sustainability efforts and supply-chain resilience.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to push product innovation, including a new functional ready-to-drink tea, which may help offset slowing demand in some core snack categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest about Rs 5,700 crore by 2030 to expand capacity, a sign of confidence in demand but also a longer-term capital commitment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and recent features suggest PepsiCo still has a credible growth story thanks to pricing power, distribution scale, and expansion into better-for-you products, but these articles do not point to a near-term earnings surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo is raising prices on smaller chip bags highlight rising costs in the business and could increase consumer pushback, potentially pressuring volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost inflation remains a concern, and the need for selective price increases suggests PepsiCo is still facing margin pressure in its U.S. snack business.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $148.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $203.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $154.36 and its 200 day moving average is $152.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.