Leisure Capital Management Lowers Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Leisure Capital Management lessened its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,161 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up about 1.1% of Leisure Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,965,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its position in shares of PepsiCo by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 93,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,812,000 after acquiring an additional 16,494 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 24,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,109,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in PepsiCo by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 97,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,505,000 after acquiring an additional 15,115 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 8,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Argus downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of PEP stock traded down $1.10 on Friday, reaching $175.58. 4,472,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,365,961. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $241.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $5.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.