Kowal Investment Group LLC Boosts Stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 25.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,968 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 22,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,909,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 12,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of PepsiCo by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 73,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,896,000 after purchasing an additional 17,499 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ramkumar Krishnan sold 5,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total value of $1,000,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 53,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,603,634. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PEP. Argus lowered shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on PepsiCo from $209.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $181.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.38.

PepsiCo Stock Performance

PepsiCo stock opened at $162.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $192.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.30.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 57.37%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 81.50%.

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.