Alberta Investment Management Corp Increases Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 605.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 130,594 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,094 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $19,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PEP. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in PepsiCo by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 7,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in PepsiCo by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in PepsiCo by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CICC Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of PepsiCo in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $158.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.47.

PepsiCo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.84. 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 has a market cap of $197.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.54. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.51 and a twelve month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.02. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 58.87% and a net margin of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $27.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. PepsiCo’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

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.