ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,454 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,365 shares during the quarter. PepsiCo makes up approximately 2.4% of ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in PepsiCo were worth $16,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 3,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,357,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 69,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,751,000 after purchasing an additional 13,108 shares during the period. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PepsiCo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Horan Capital Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of PepsiCo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. now owns 4,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.07% of the company’s stock.

PepsiCo Price Performance

PepsiCo stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.15. The stock had a trading volume of 3,492,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,097. 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 1-year low of $155.83 and a 1-year high of $196.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $170.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.52.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.09. PepsiCo had a return on equity of 57.37% and a net margin of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $18.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 76.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PEP. Barclays boosted their target price on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup raised PepsiCo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of PepsiCo in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised PepsiCo from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PepsiCo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six 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, PepsiCo currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.42.

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.