New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Reduces Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,323 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here’s Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
• Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $150.57 on Monday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.60 and a twelve month high of $171.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $154.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 89.32%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.