Lesa Sroufe & Co Invests $559,000 in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. Citigroup dropped their price objective on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut PepsiCo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 target price on PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $143.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.69.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ PEP opened at $131.41 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $134.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $180.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

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

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo's previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

PepsiCo Company Profile

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.

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