Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management increased its stake in PepsiCo by 15.4% in Q4 to 47,726 shares, valued at about $6.85 million.
• PepsiCo's board authorized a $10 billion share repurchase (up to ~4.7% of shares) and the company pays a quarterly dividend that annualizes to $5.69 (yield ~3.6%).
• PepsiCo slightly beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.26 and revenue of $29.34B (+5.6% YoY), while analysts retain a consensus "Hold" rating and a $168.47 average price target.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,726 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $6,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PEP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 59,392 shares of the company's stock worth $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at $251,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 138.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 10.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 38,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,039,000 after buying an additional 3,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in PepsiCo in the second quarter valued at $2,358,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. TD Cowen increased their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised PepsiCo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.47.

PepsiCo News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage highlighting likely earnings growth and a potential beat supports expectations for revenue/earnings resilience ahead of the print. PepsiCo (PEP) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Marketing and product activity (new campaign for Cheetos with high‑profile partners) can help brand momentum and volume recovery in snacks/beverages. Campaign Trail: Cheetos soundtracks a heist with Megan Thee Stallion, Nickelback
• Positive Sentiment: New product rollout (Dirty Mountain Dew national push) and related beverage innovations may offset some snack weakness if consumer uptake is strong. PepsiCo Balances Dirty Mountain Dew Launch With Snack Pricing And ESG Risks
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS and other brokers expect Q1 results to be largely in‑line, noting modest organic revenue progress but continued focus on North America trends; that tempers both upside and downside near term. PepsiCo expected to report in-line Q1 results amid North America recovery
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest report shows no meaningful short position (data anomaly/zeroes), so short covering is unlikely to be a driver. (No actionable signal.)
• Negative Sentiment: RBC trimmed its price target from $165 to $163 and kept a "sector perform" rating — a modestly bearish signal that may weigh on sentiment relative to peers. RBC trims price target on PepsiCo to $163 from $165, keeps sector perform rating
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple reports that prior snack price hikes led to lost sales and shelf‑space losses have forced PepsiCo to cut snack prices, which could boost volumes but hurt near‑term margins and investor sentiment. PepsiCo Balances Dirty Mountain Dew Launch With Snack Pricing And ESG Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets and an analyst note flagged a pessimistic medium‑term view on PEP’s share performance, adding to near‑term caution ahead of results. UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PepsiCo NASDAQ: PEP Stock Price

PepsiCo Stock Performance

NASDAQ PEP opened at $157.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.60 and a 1 year high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $214.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.04.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 57.92%. The company had revenue of $29.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

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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