Empire Life Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 112,427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $17,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,221,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,873,000 after acquiring an additional 395,075 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 30,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,699,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 152,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $359,000. Finally, Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $143.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company has a market cap of $196.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas decreased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Profile

PepsiCo, Inc engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region.