North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $6.75 Million in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 46,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,745,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PEP. Argus upgraded shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.37.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $149.12 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The firm has a market cap of $203.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 2.73 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results 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. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

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

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication 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.