VELA Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 96.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,517 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,579 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 99,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,968,000 after buying an additional 8,406 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. StockNews.com downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. CICC Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP opened at $152.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $148.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.73. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.51 and a 12-month high of $183.41. The firm has a market cap of $208.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

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

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.