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PEPSICO INC. $166 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol PEP; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $232.4 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.pepsico.com) is the world’s second-largest soft-drink maker after Coca-Cola. Its other brands include Frito-Lay snacks, Gatorade sports drinks, and Quaker Oats cereals. PepsiCo raised your quarterly dividend by 10.0% with the June 2023 payment. The annual rate of $5.06 a share yields 3.0%. In 2023, the company expects to pay out $6.7 billion in dividends and repurchase $1.0 billion of its stock. In the quarter ended September 9, 2023, sales increased by 6.7%, to $23.45 billion from $21.97 billion a year earlier. Excluding currency, sales rose by 8.7%. Revenues increased on higher prices, which were only partly offset by lower volumes. Prices rose across all seven of PepsiCo’s operating segments. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $3.11 billion, or $2.25 a share, in the quarter. That’s up 13.9% from $2.73 billion, or $1.97, a..