Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 555,743 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,064 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $78,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Windle Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.0% during the third quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 52,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,320,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 140,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,796,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.4% in the third quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 4,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, LexAurum Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PepsiCo by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $166.47 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.60 and a 1-year high of $170.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.51 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.40.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.83%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PEP has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.16.

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.