Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,955 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $612,000. Vantage Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 37.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 56,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,532,000 after buying an additional 15,328 shares during the period. Finally, Academy Capital Management boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Academy Capital Management now owns 88,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,402,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $154.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.

About PepsiCo

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.