Colonial Trust Advisors Cuts Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Colonial Trust Advisors reduced its PepsiCo stake by 9% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,386 shares and leaving it with 74,283 shares valued at about $10.7 million.
• PepsiCo continues to attract mixed but mostly cautious analyst attention: the consensus rating remains Hold, with a consensus price target of $168.25 despite several recent target adjustments.
• The company posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its dividend to $1.48 per share, lifting the annualized payout to $5.92 and yielding about 4.1%.

Colonial Trust Advisors trimmed its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,283 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,386 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors' holdings in PepsiCo were worth $10,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Andra AP fonden increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 210.3% during the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 81,917 shares of the company's stock worth $11,757,000 after purchasing an additional 55,517 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. DJE Kapital AG now owns 40,300 shares of the company's stock worth $5,841,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares in the last quarter. Compass Capital Corp MA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $189,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 24,270 shares of the company's stock worth $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 832,357 shares of the company's stock worth $119,460,000 after purchasing an additional 210,728 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key PepsiCo News

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is expanding its autonomous trucking partnership with Gatik, now using fully driverless freight operations across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas to help ease labor shortages in hard-to-staff parts of its supply chain. How PepsiCo’s Driverless Freight Rollout With Gatik (PEP) Has Changed Its Investment Story
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also partnering with Compeer Financial on a strip-till equipment financing pilot that helps farmers adopt soil conservation practices, reinforcing the company’s sustainability image and relationships with agricultural suppliers. Compeer Financial Collaborates with PepsiCo to Provide Strip-Till Equipment Financing
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary continues to frame PepsiCo as a long-term growth and dividend holding, with several recent pieces highlighting valuation support and rebound potential. Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is continuing to promote PepsiCo’s women’s sports sponsorship and consumer engagement strategy as a growth driver, which supports the brand narrative but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. BIS: PepsiCo’s Carolyn Braff on women’s sports being a key growth driver
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate for PepsiCo, but the revision was minimal and did not materially change the broader earnings outlook. PepsiCo, Inc. Stock Overview
• Negative Sentiment: The stock remains pressured by investor caution after recent trading weakness and a valuation that has come down from its highs, suggesting the market is waiting for stronger near-term growth or margin improvement. PepsiCo Steps Up Autonomous Freight Use As Valuation Gap Persists

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on PEP. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on PepsiCo from $165.00 to $170.00 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.25.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $143.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.42. The stock has a market cap of $196.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.35. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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