Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 943,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134,729 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $146,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 14,857.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 49,252,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,068,777,000 after purchasing an additional 48,923,629 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $3,018,813,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 16,146.5% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,586,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $556,936,000 after buying an additional 3,564,348 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 120.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,916,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,902,000 after buying an additional 3,235,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $134.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.74. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $133.73 and a 1-year high of $171.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.03.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.95 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 54.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is presently 77.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $134.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. HSBC raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.90.

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.