Updating Pepsico Inc., Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Leon’s Furniture LTD.

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PEPSICO INC. $117 (New York symbol PEP; Conservative-Growth Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $163.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.8%; 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 snack foods, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana fruit juices and Quaker Oats cereals. Starting with the June 2017 payment, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 7.0%, to $0.805 a share from $0.7525. The new annual rate of $3.22 yields 2.8%. In the three months ended June 17, 2017, the company’s sales rose 2.0%, to $15.7 billion from $15.4 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because higher selling prices and food volumes offset flat beverage demand in the quarter. Excluding unusual items, PepsiCo’s earnings improved 9.3%, to $2.2 billion from $2.0 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share in the quarter rose 11.1%, to $1.50 from $1.35, on fewer shares outstanding. The stock trades at 22.7 times the $5.16 a share that PepsiCo…