Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Raises Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 500,816 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,029 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $76,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. St. Clair Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $3,690,000. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in PepsiCo in the fourth quarter worth about $1,733,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,279,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 3,499.4% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 614,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,466,000 after acquiring an additional 597,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in PepsiCo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $131.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $180.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.87 and a 52-week high of $182.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.42.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $1.4225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. This represents a $5.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PEP shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $186.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.69.

PepsiCo Company 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.