AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,831 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the third quarter worth $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 93.2% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC reduced their target price on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP opened at $152.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.51 and a 1 year high of $183.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.57 and a 200-day moving average of $161.73. The company has a market cap of $208.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. PepsiCo’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 77.99%.

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.