National Bank of Canada FI Buys 485,437 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,960,499 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 485,437 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.14% of PepsiCo worth $338,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA grew its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PepsiCo during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its position in PepsiCo by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $0.70 on Friday, reaching $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The company has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.83 and a 12 month high of $196.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.26.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. PepsiCo’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

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.