Amiral Gestion Invests $11.07 Million in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Amiral Gestion bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 72,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,073,000. PepsiCo makes up about 7.0% of Amiral Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $129.34 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.75 and a 52 week high of $180.91. The company has a market cap of $177.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $17.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.4225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. BNP Paribas decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price objective on PepsiCo in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, CICC Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

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.