Wesbanco Bank Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its PepsiCo stake by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,195 shares and ending with 111,946 shares valued at about $16.1 million.
• PepsiCo reported strong first-quarter results, beating EPS and revenue estimates with $1.61 per share on $19.44 billion in sales, while revenue rose 8.5% year over year.
• The company also boosted shareholder returns by authorizing a $10 billion buyback and increasing its quarterly dividend to $1.48 per share, which implies an annualized yield of about 3.8%.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,946 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,195 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,483,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,875,205,000 after buying an additional 1,612,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,499,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,356,155,000 after buying an additional 1,079,970 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in PepsiCo by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,617,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,912,476,000 after buying an additional 958,701 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in PepsiCo by 1.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,902,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,250,290,000 after buying an additional 118,286 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in PepsiCo by 30.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 8,641,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,230,000 after buying an additional 1,995,362 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of PepsiCo stock opened at $154.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $157.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.50. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.48. The company has a market capitalization of $211.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.38.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. PepsiCo's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $1.48 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.32%.

Trending Headlines about PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced a new partnership in the UAE’s Future Industries Lab to support SMEs and young Emiratis, reinforcing its innovation and local investment strategy. MoIAT expands Future Industries Lab with new PepsiCo partnership supporting SMEs and young Emiratis
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announced a low-carbon ammonia agreement, an ESG-oriented move that could improve supply-chain sustainability and appeal to investors focused on emissions reduction. PepsiCo and TalusAg Renewables announce low-carbon ammonia attribute agreement to help accelerate fertilizer decarbonization
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted PepsiCo’s continued investment in China and its focus on international growth, product innovation, and cost discipline, which supports the long-term bull case. PepsiCo to 'continue investing' in Chinese market

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PEP. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $170.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.26.

PepsiCo 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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