Sheets Smith Wealth Management Lowers Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 111,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,841 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up 2.3% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PEP stock traded up $0.70 on Friday, reaching $176.15. 3,492,120 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.46.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.25 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. This is a positive change from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is 76.09%.

About PepsiCo

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.