Clarius Group LLC Lowers Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 9.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in PepsiCo by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,498,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 199.8% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in PepsiCo by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 975,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,226,000 after buying an additional 38,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

Shares of PEP stock opened at $129.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $177.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.45. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.75 and a 1 year high of $180.91.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.01). PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.28% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $17.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $1.4225 dividend. This represents a $5.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.36. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio is 83.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PEP. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $155.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on PepsiCo from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $140.00 price target on PepsiCo in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.69.

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.