National Bank of Canada FI Buys 485,437 Shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,960,499 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485,437 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $338,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PEP. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.7% in the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PepsiCo by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC grew its holdings in PepsiCo by 3.1% in the third quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on PepsiCo from $199.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on PepsiCo from $178.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

PepsiCo Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PEP traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,492,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.68. PepsiCo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.83 and a twelve month high of $196.88. The stock has a market cap of $242.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

PepsiCo Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $1.355 dividend. This represents a $5.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. This is an increase from PepsiCo’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.50%.

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.