RWC Asset Management LLP Buys 8,752 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

RWC Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 212,793 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,752 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up about 1.6% of RWC Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. RWC Asset Management LLP’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $32,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in PepsiCo by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,268,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,429,000 after buying an additional 2,775,679 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,497,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,170,529,000 after acquiring an additional 543,558 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,360,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,632,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125,059 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 21.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,021,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,098,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,359,000 after purchasing an additional 313,468 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $183.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a $172.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.47.

PepsiCo Stock Up 3.0 %

PEP opened at $153.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. PepsiCo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.51 and a fifty-two week high of $183.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.54.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.89 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.43% and a return on equity of 58.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.