Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 142.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,930 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,063 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo accounts for 1.7% of Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $8,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osprey Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 42,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,578,000 after buying an additional 3,507 shares during the last quarter. Petix & Botte Co bought a new position in PepsiCo during the 1st quarter valued at about $364,000. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,102 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 27.7% in the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 84.5% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s Q2 revenue topped Wall Street estimates, supported by stronger international growth and improved volumes in some markets.
• Positive Sentiment: The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, which can help reassure investors that the turnaround plan is still on track.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo’s long dividend track record remains a draw for income investors, with the company continuing its streak of annual increases.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms, including RBC, TD Cowen, Wells Fargo, Citi, and others, lowered price targets after the report, but most still kept neutral or hold-type ratings. Citi Analyst Downgrades PepsiCo Stock (PEP) Despite Q2 Beat, Slashes Target by 15%
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain split between PepsiCo’s dividend/stability appeal and concerns about valuation, margin pressure, and a slow U.S. recovery. PepsiCo’s $200 Billion Stability Play Is Attracting Dividend Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are worried that soft North American snack and beverage demand, plus higher commodity and fuel costs, could keep earnings momentum muted.
• Negative Sentiment: Media coverage compared PepsiCo unfavorably with Coca-Cola, highlighting market-share pressure and a more difficult turnaround narrative for PEP shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PEP shares. Piper Sandler set a $176.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $170.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $134.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.70.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $137.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.75 and a 52 week high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 9th. The company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.95 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 54.63%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. PepsiCo has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.550-8.710 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.94%.

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.