PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP Stock Position Boosted by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in PepsiCo to 8,902,664 shares (about 0.65% of the company), buying an additional 118,286 shares valued at roughly $1.25 billion at period end.
• PepsiCo's board authorized a $10.0 billion stock repurchase program (up to ~4.7% of shares) and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 per share (annualized $5.69, yield ~3.5%).
• PepsiCo beat latest estimates with EPS of $2.26 and revenue of $29.34 billion, while analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating and a $168.50 price target.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,902,664 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 118,286 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.65% of PepsiCo worth $1,250,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at $872,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.6% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 185,961 shares of the company's stock worth $24,554,000 after buying an additional 4,627 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PepsiCo by 122.6% in the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 20,365 shares of the company's stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 11,217 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PepsiCo by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,659,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,671,500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 252,916 shares of the company's stock worth $35,451,000 after purchasing an additional 40,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PEP shares. Evercore increased their target price on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Friday, January 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $161.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.50.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of PEP opened at $161.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.38. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.39.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.92% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $29.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 94.83%.

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PEP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.