PepsiCo (PEP: sentiment, chart, options) gave investors a little good news this morning when it announced that it would boost its annual dividend to $1.70 from $1.50. Chairman and Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said the dividend increase reflects the beverage company's "confidence in the future growth of our business." The quarterly dividend now stands at 42.5 cents a share, payable June 30 to shareholders on record by June 6.

After enjoying a strong rally from its March 2003 lows to its peak in January 2008 at $79.79, the security has pulled back somewhat and now finds itself trapped in a sideways range between resistance in the 73 area and support at the 67 level. In trading today, the stock is up 0.7% to $69.05, but still has a way to climb before it moves above resistance at the 73 level.

Sentiment is mixed toward the shares at the moment. Options players have a dour outlook, as the Schaeffer's put/call open ratio for PEP stands at 1.10 in the 93rd percentile. This reading indicates that investors have been more pessimistically aligned toward the stock only 7% of the time during the past year. Meanwhile, Wall Street is somewhat optimistic, as 7 of the 12 analysts following PEP rate it a "buy."