Ames National Corp Invests $672,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Ames National Corp acquired a new stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. Cove Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Prairiewood Capital LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 75,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,525,000 after buying an additional 1,924 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $131.80 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $140.72 and its 200-day moving average is $149.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.87 and a 12-month high of $182.13.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 83.68%.

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.