Sone Capital Management LLC Takes Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sone Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 133,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,276,000. PepsiCo makes up about 2.6% of Sone Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,371,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,280,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,133 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,079,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,717,069,000 after purchasing an additional 582,254 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,217,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,856,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $2,729,565,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,300,000 after buying an additional 1,306,818 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PEP. BNP Paribas decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock opened at $131.98 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.42. The stock has a market cap of $180.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a one year low of $127.87 and a one year high of $182.13. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The company had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.4225 dividend. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 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.