Strs Ohio Sells 31,100 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. $PEP

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 608,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,100 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $94,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in PepsiCo during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Networth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2,857.1% during the first quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 207 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PEP. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on PepsiCo from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.00.

PepsiCo Price Performance

NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.22 on Friday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.96 and a 52-week high of $171.48. The company has a market cap of $197.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.81.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $19.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.89 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 56.61% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $1.48 dividend. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.94%.

Key Stories Impacting PepsiCo

Here are the key news stories impacting PepsiCo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS reportedly said defensive dividend names like PepsiCo could be poised for a comeback as investors rotate beyond tech-heavy winners. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: PepsiCo announced progress toward its 2030 agriculture goals, reinforcing its sustainability and supply-chain strategy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces highlighted PepsiCo as an attractive dividend stock and noted its efforts in innovation, marketing, and operational changes, which may support long-term sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts at Barclays and JPMorgan both cut PepsiCo price targets, but kept their ratings unchanged, signaling softer near-term expectations rather than a major thesis change.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS also trimmed PepsiCo’s target, saying the long-run story remains intact despite near-term headwinds. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: News flow ahead of Q2 earnings next week suggests investors are waiting for confirmation on growth, with some reports saying retail interest has cooled and North American top-line trends remain under pressure.
• Neutral Sentiment: PepsiCo’s agriculture-goals update, executive commentary on “making the simple special,” and leadership appointments in Europe are supportive corporate updates, but likely have limited immediate stock impact.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts lowered earnings forecasts for upcoming fiscal periods, reinforcing concerns that growth may stay muted in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that PepsiCo’s North America top-line trends were still under pressure and that the stock may be losing momentum with retail investors could weigh on sentiment into earnings. Article Title

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.