Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its PepsiCo stake by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holding to 9,005,569 shares worth about $1.29 billion.
• PepsiCo reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.61 topping estimates and revenue rising 8.5% year over year to $19.44 billion. The company also approved a $10 billion share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share.
• Recent headlines are mixed: PepsiCo extended its India licensing/bottling deal with Varun Beverages through 2049 and continues product innovation, but it still faces margin pressure from higher input costs and has raised prices on some smaller chip bags to offset inflation.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,005,569 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 102,905 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.66% of PepsiCo worth $1,292,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock worth $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock worth $8,356,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,970 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock worth $1,912,476,000 after acquiring an additional 958,701 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock worth $1,207,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112,038 shares of the company's stock worth $1,139,255,000 after acquiring an additional 155,636 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo extended and revised its licensing and bottling arrangements with Varun Beverages in India through 2049, while also giving the partner more freedom to pursue non-PepsiCo ventures. The longer-term deal should help protect distribution in a key growth market and reduce partnership uncertainty. Varun Beverages, PepsiCo revise licencing deal
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo is also being highlighted by market commentary as a strong growth stock and a defensive blue-chip income name, reinforcing investor interest in the company’s earnings stability and dividend profile. Here's Why PepsiCo (PEP) is a Strong Growth Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo launched new products and initiatives, including a functional ready-to-drink tea and a greenhouse program in Asia-Pacific, which support its innovation story but are unlikely to move the stock on their own. PepsiCo adds functional RTD tea
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also moving ahead with sustainability and regenerative agriculture efforts, which may help long-term brand positioning but are not immediate earnings catalysts. PepsiCo enters regen ag pact with LDC
• Negative Sentiment: Industry coverage continues to flag margin pressure from higher sugar, packaging and freight costs, along with tariff uncertainty. That backdrop could weigh on profitability for PepsiCo and other soft drink makers if costs stay elevated. 5 Soft Drinks Stocks to Track Amid Margin & Tariff Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: PepsiCo said it will raise prices on some smaller chip bags to offset increased costs. While this may help margins, it can also pressure volume and suggests inflation remains a headwind. Lay’s and Doritos maker to raise prices on small bags of chips

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEP opened at $150.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $205.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $171.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.52.

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

PepsiCo declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is presently 89.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $163.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.11.

About PepsiCo

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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