Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,996 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,208 shares during the quarter. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $5,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in PepsiCo during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo and Varun Beverages extended their exclusive bottling agreement in India through 2049, giving PepsiCo greater distribution stability and more flexibility to grow in a key international market.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced new growth initiatives in Asia-Pacific and a regenerated agriculture partnership with LDC, both of which support the company’s sustainability efforts and supply-chain resilience.
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo continues to push product innovation, including a new functional ready-to-drink tea, which may help offset slowing demand in some core snack categories.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo India plans to invest about Rs 5,700 crore by 2030 to expand capacity, a sign of confidence in demand but also a longer-term capital commitment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary and recent features suggest PepsiCo still has a credible growth story thanks to pricing power, distribution scale, and expansion into better-for-you products, but these articles do not point to a near-term earnings surprise.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo is raising prices on smaller chip bags highlight rising costs in the business and could increase consumer pushback, potentially pressuring volume growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost inflation remains a concern, and the need for selective price increases suggests PepsiCo is still facing margin pressure in its U.S. snack business.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $130.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $172.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on PepsiCo from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.11.

PepsiCo Stock Down 0.3%

PepsiCo stock opened at $148.85 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.60 and a fifty-two week high of $171.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. PepsiCo had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 56.61%. The business had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.32%.

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.