Retirement Stock Portfolio: 5 Safe Consumer Stocks to Consider

3. PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72     

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. It is one of the premier safe consumer stocks for a retirement stock portfolio. On November 7, Pepsi said it was in collaboration with Hard Rock Cafe, a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, in which they hosted one of the topmost events with Afro and High Life musical performances with singers Stones and Bones. PepsiCo has an impressive dividend profile that goes back close to five decades. 

On October 14, Barclays analyst Lauren Lieberman maintained an Overweight rating on PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) stock and raised the price target to $185 from $183, noting that the company’s beat and raise in the third quarter is firmly characteristic of its flexibility that screens all the more attractive in the current operating environment.

At the end of the third quarter of 2022, 72 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $4.8 billion in PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), compared to 65 in the previous quarter worth $5.3 billion.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Also in the stable and predictable cash flow camp, though with a very different business model, global food and beverage company PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) reported very strong organic growth in the first quarter, driven by healthy price/mix, and raised revenue guidance, while holding EPS guidance. Notably, its beverage business showed expanding margins.”