Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 17,600 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 400,366 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,600 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $57,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PEP. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 47.8% in the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PEP. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Argus raised shares of PepsiCo to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $169.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $191.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.11.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $142.15 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.58. The company has a market capitalization of $194.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. 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 (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 92.94%.

PepsiCo Company 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.