Barron's Recap: Time For A PepsiCo Split?

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This weekend in Barron's online: the case for splitting up PepsiCo, Barron's annual ranking of the top independent advisors, as well as the prospects for Hasbro, TransCanada, Bunge and more.

Cover Story

"Time for PepsiCo to Split Up?" by Robin Goldwyn Blumenthal.

For years, some investors have grumbled that PepsiCo's PEP soft-drink business was a drag on the more lucrative and faster-growing Frito-Lay snack foods business, says this week's cover story in Barron's.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz, a proponent of splitting the company into separate businesses, told Barron's: "Shareholders are not happy with the status quo. While we think the best path forward to unlock value is a spinoff of the beverage business, we are open-minded."

See how Peltz and Pepsi have gone back and forth on this issue over the past year, and why Pepsi is reluctant to split up the way Kraft Foods and others have done. The article takes a look at how Pepsi has fared against rival Coca-Cola and the S&P 500, and it examines the role that Frito-Lay plays in the company's fortunes.

See also: Pepsi Hits 52-Week High on Strong Q2, Upbeat Outlook

Special Feature: Independent Advisors Rankings

Steve Garmhausen's "Scaling the Heights" reveals how, with stocks near record levels, the top 100 independent financial advisors remain focused on the long term. This is Barron's annual ranking of the top independent advisors.

"How to Pick a Financial Advisor" by Steve Garmhausen presents a Barron's guide to the process of investigating a financial advisor before settling on one. See why it pays to do a thorough check financial advisor first.

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Feature Stories

In "Hasbro Could Return 20%," Jack Hough points out that, at 55, Mattel's Barbie is showing her age. However, Hasbro's HAS Transformers and My Little Pony brands are still hot enough that the toymaker is outpacing its main rival.

TransCanada TRP is an attractive alternative to U.S. master limited partnerships, says "Why TransCanada Could Rise 35%" by Andrew Bary. The Calgary-based energy infrastructure company has a robust pipeline and generates lots of cash.

See "More Bumper Crops, Fewer Bumps at Bunge" for Jack Willoughby's take on why, if a new CEO can keep the unexpected from happening again, shares of Bunge BG could see a gain of up to 15 percent.

"Writing a Bigger Book" by Sarah Max features a profile of Joel Greenblatt, manager of Gotham Asset Management and author of "The Little Book That Beats the Market." Discover why Greenblatt diversifies much more in his newest fund offerings.

Lawrence C. Strauss's "In the Bond Market, It's No Time for Heroes" offers an interview with two fixed-income pros from TCW. In the article, Tad Rivelle and Laird Landmann share why they like some nonagency mortgage securities.

The CEO spotlight is turned on Arne Sorenson, the first outsider to lead Marriott International MAR, in Crystal Kim's "Marriott CEO Sorenson Charts a Global Course." Are there enormous opportunities to tap the travel boom in the developing world as Sorenson believes?

"Quenching The Big Thirst" is an editorial commentary by Thomas G. Donlan, in which he asks whether California can satisfy its need for water without taking too much.

See also: An Apple-Pandora Merger Would Be A 'Scary Combination'

Columns

Columns in this weekend's Barron's discuss:

  • Whether Yellen's speech clarified the central bank's rate-cutting plans
  • Mutual fund investors pouring into stocks as S&P nears a record
  • A stock-market strategist boosting his S&P 500 forecast dramatically
  • The impact of Obama's weak poll numbers on democrats
  • Whether Apple can finally get its cloud offering right
  • What's happened with crowdfunding and equity financing
  • A contrarian and prescient take on hedge funds from 10 years ago
  • Junk-bond ETFs that try shorting Treasury bonds
  • The slow week for dividend stocks
  • How Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century is flawed
  • A new gadget for watching TV on the go

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Posted In: Barron'sMediaAppleBarron'sbungehasbroJanet YellenMarriott InternationalNelson PeltzpepsicoTransCanada
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