Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 19.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 162,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,439 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $21,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,031,000 after purchasing an additional 6,574 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in PepsiCo by 920.6% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 86,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,902,000 after buying an additional 77,617 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the first quarter worth $382,000. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,140,000 after buying an additional 2,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1,183.0% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 74,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,165,000 after acquiring an additional 68,660 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $150.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.90.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $145.02 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $146.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.75. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.60 and a 12-month high of $161.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market capitalization of $198.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 8th. The company reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $23.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.91 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.58% and a net margin of 7.82%.PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 108.17%.

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.