Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Decreases Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. by 28% in Q1, holding 360,504 shares valued at $54.05 million after selling 140,312 shares.
• PepsiCo reported a Q2 EPS of $2.12, surpassing analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $22.73 billion, which is a 1% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.4225 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $5.69 and a yield of 4.1%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP - Free Report) by 28.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 360,504 shares of the company's stock after selling 140,312 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $54,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 19,106.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,588,614 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,017,000 after buying an additional 4,564,723 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,514,965 shares of the company's stock worth $527,034,000 after buying an additional 1,809,391 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,297,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,403,395 shares of the company's stock worth $2,494,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306,818 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 292.9% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,559,081 shares of the company's stock worth $228,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,315 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PepsiCo Stock Up 1.0%

PepsiCo stock traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $140.80. The company had a trading volume of 6,746,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,650,565. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $134.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.76. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.60 and a 12 month high of $179.73. The company has a market capitalization of $192.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.45.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.81% and a net margin of 8.23%. The business had revenue of $22.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. PepsiCo's payout ratio is currently 103.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PEP shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank lowered PepsiCo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on PepsiCo from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PepsiCo from $140.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.73.

About PepsiCo

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.