HTLF Bank Buys New Position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,372,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 39,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 2,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PEP shares. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PEP stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.42. 1,902,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,671,958. The company has a market cap of $236.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.55 and its 200 day moving average is $167.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $196.88.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $27.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.40 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.03% and a net margin of 9.92%. PepsiCo’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.02%.

PepsiCo 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.