3 Reasons To Take A Sip Of The PepsiCo Stock

If you were one of the 114 million people that tuned in to this years' Super Bowl, it would have been hard to miss the advertising by PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP). With a strong focus on advertising and marketing in 2020, the household beverage name is hoping to grow its organic sales. The bid seems to be working with the packaged food and beverage stock recently hitting an all-time high, closing at $146.99 on February 14.

Here are three of the top reasons this stock is still worth investing in:

1. Organic Growth

Not only did the company's net sales jump by 6% to $20.64 billion in the last quarter, its organic revenue increased by 4.3%. However, the current quarter is likely to be impacted by the recent coronavirus outbreak, with the company closing down business in the area that makes up 2% of Pepsi's sales.

On top of the drive to boost brands like Gatorade and newcomers like Bubly through marketing, the company is also investing in its e-commerce business. The online platform made $2 billion for 2019 and is an area Pepsi is keen to build on to drive even more organic purchases. The company also recently agreed to acquire Be & Cherry, a snack company that sells most of its products online. This will cost PepsiCo at $705 million, and is just another way of trying to ramp up its online retail presence.

2. Product Innovation

PepsiCo is always looking for new ways to stay on-trend. It has purchased the health-focused company Naked Juice and also acquired SodaStream for $3.2 billion in 2018. However, there is an ongoing rivalry with big-name beverage brand Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Pepsi Cafe was the company's response to Coca-Cola's Plus Coffee drink.

For those who prefer the crunch of crisps, PepsiCo is continually launching new flavors of its Frito-Lay and Quaker products. In North America, Frito-Lay increased its organic revenue by 4.5% in 2019. The recent earnings call also revealed that Frito produced net revenue growth in Lay's, Doritos, Tostitos, Cheetos, Ruffles, and Fritos, while the premium labels posted double-digit growth including Bare and Off the Eaten Path.

PepsiCo has also spoken about working with the owners of energy brand ROCKSTAR, to possibly develop and reinvest. At the moment, PepsiCo has Mountain Dew and is trying to move into the energy drink category to compete with Coca-Cola and also Red Bull.

3. Steady Future Growth

While the company isn't growing as fast as its rival Coca-Cola, it is experiencing its fastest expansion in years. Coca-Cola is predicted to post around a 5% increase in organic sales in 2020, compared to PepsiCo's 4%.

PepsiCo's outlook for 2020 is predicted to be steady and return to growth, with earnings per share set to rise by 7%. This is despite another year of increased spending, of up to $5 billion (7% of sales), but this is seen as the new normal for the company until around 2023. From there, the company is expected to see capital spending go down to about 5% of sales.

At the fourth-quarter earnings call, PepsiCo told investors that cash returns for its shareholders would be around $7.5 billion in 2020. Overall, the stock is a good buy and investors can expect robust cash returns.

MyWallSt operates a full disclosure policy. MyWallSt staff currently hold no positions in Pepsi. Read our full disclosure policy here.