PepsiCo taps Africa’s growth

Article Excerpt

PEPSICO INC. $135 (Nasdaq symbol PEP; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $189.0 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) last raised its quarterly dividend with the June 2019 payment by 3.0%, to $0.955 a share from $0.9275. The new annual rate of $3.82 yields 2.8%. The company is now buying South Africa’s Pioneer Food Group for $1.8 billion. Pioneer makes a variety of foods, including breads, cereals and fruit juices. PepsiCo expects to close the deal in early 2020. Adding Pioneer will help the company expand the availability of its soft drinks and snack products in Africa. However, using acquisitions to expand adds risk. PepsiCo is still a hold. hold…