Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 429 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,357 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $4,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PEP. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.6% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in PepsiCo by 3,345.6% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 179,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,391,000 after purchasing an additional 174,171 shares in the last quarter. Marion Wealth Management boosted its holdings in PepsiCo by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 8,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of PepsiCo by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 715,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,486,000 after purchasing an additional 11,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.9% in the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 253,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after purchasing an additional 9,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PEP. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on PepsiCo in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $174.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on PepsiCo from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of PepsiCo from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of PepsiCo from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.53.

PepsiCo Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PEP opened at $170.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.83 and a 12-month high of $183.41.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 11th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.59 billion. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current year.

PepsiCo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. PepsiCo’s payout ratio is currently 78.66%.

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.