8 Best Beverage Dividend Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds

4. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) is a New York-based food, snack, and beverage company. It is known for its consistent reliability, with decades of serving customers worldwide. The company’s stock price has surged by over 6,500% since its inception. Due to strong customer loyalty, PepsiCo can implement small price hikes without heavily impacting consumer spending. Over the years, population growth and gradual price increases have steadily driven revenue growth, rising from $70.3 billion in 2020 to $92 billion by 2023.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) reported strong earnings in the third quarter of 2024, with revenues amounting to over $23.3 billion. The company’s overall business remained resilient, despite weaker performance trends in North America, ongoing challenges from recalls at Quaker Foods North America, and disruptions caused by rising geopolitical tensions in certain international markets. Strong cost management contributed to profitability, while the company made gradual investments to enhance its competitiveness in the marketplace.

Due to these ongoing challenges, PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) expects a modest, low-single-digit increase in organic revenue, down from the previously expected growth of around 4%. The company intends to stay focused on its commitment to shareholders, projecting a return of $8.2 billion to investors through dividends and share repurchases in 2024.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), one of the best beverage stocks, currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.355 per share. In April this year, the company achieved its 52nd consecutive annual dividend hike. The stock supports an attractive dividend yield of 3.35%, as of November 24.

Of the 900 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q3 2024, 58 funds owned stakes in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), compared with 65 in the previous quarter. The collective worth of these stakes is more than $4.44 billion. Among these hedge funds, Fisher Asset Management was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.