Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 135,345 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Schroder Investment Management boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 15.6% in Q3, acquiring 135,345 shares to hold 1,005,459 shares valued at about $140.9 million (roughly 0.07% of the company).
• PepsiCo approved a $10 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 per share (annualized $5.69, ~3.5% yield; ex-dividend March 6, payable March 31).
• The company slightly beat recent quarterly estimates with $2.26 EPS (vs. $2.24) and $29.34B revenue (up 5.6% YoY), while analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with a $168.50 price target.

Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 15.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,005,459 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 135,345 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.07% of PepsiCo worth $140,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 107.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 234 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 667.7% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $191.00 target price on PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised PepsiCo from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore raised their price target on PepsiCo from $152.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $152.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.50.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $161.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.38. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.85. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.60 and a 52-week high of $171.48.

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 analyst estimates of $28.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued 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 yield of 3.5%. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.83%.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

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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