GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lowered its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 83.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,519 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,491 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sage Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $446,000. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $182,000. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. a16z Perennial Management L.P. bought a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 62,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,997,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PEP stock opened at $141.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $193.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $152.90 and its 200 day moving average is $152.64.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Profile

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.