Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Invests $14.53 Million in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 95,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,526,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in PepsiCo by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,350,000 after acquiring an additional 870,451 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in PepsiCo by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 41,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,323,000 after acquiring an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 350,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in PepsiCo by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,220 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in PepsiCo by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,236,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,031,000 after acquiring an additional 61,541 shares during the period. 73.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepsiCo Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ PEP opened at $151.34 on Tuesday. PepsiCo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.51 and a 12 month high of $183.41. The stock has a market cap of $207.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $148.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.96 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 firm had revenue of $27.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PepsiCo, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PepsiCo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. PepsiCo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on PepsiCo from $183.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $193.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on PepsiCo from $184.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PepsiCo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.59.

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.