PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Shares Acquired by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 397,843 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in PepsiCo were worth $59,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $168.00 to $153.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PEP stock traded up $2.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $132.30. 11,432,993 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,648,128. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.75 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $135.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is 83.68%.

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.