Sara Lee Corporation (SLE): Today's Featured Food & Beverage Winner

Sara Lee Corporation (SLE) pushed the Food & Beverage industry higher today making it today's featured food & beverage winner. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.4%. By the end of trading, Sara Lee Corporation rose 36 cents (1.7%) to $21.19 on heavy volume. Throughout the day, 14 million shares of Sara Lee Corporation exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 7.9 million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $20.81-$21.34 after having opened the day at $20.91 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $20.83. Other companies within the Food & Beverage industry that increased today were: Post Holdings (POST), up 6.3%, Crumbs Bake Shop (CRMB), up 5.8%, Synutra International (SYUT), up 5.7%, and Primo Water (PRMW), up 5.2%.

Sara Lee Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of a range of branded packaged meat, bakery, and beverage products worldwide. Sara Lee Corporation has a market cap of $12.37 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 121.4, below the average food & beverage industry P/E ratio of 521 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 10.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday. Currently there are four analysts that rate Sara Lee Corporation a buy, one analyst rates it a sell, and five rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Sara Lee Corporation as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

• You can view the full Sara Lee Ratings Report.

On the negative front, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A (CCH), down 8.4%, John B. Sanfilippo & Son (JBSS), down 3.2%, American Lorain (ALN), down 3.1%, and China New Borun Corporation (BORN), down 2.9%, were all losers within the food & beverage industry with Dean Foods Company (DF) being today's food & beverage industry loser.

• Use our food & beverage section to find industry-relevant news.
• Or find some new ideas from our top rated stocks lists.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the food & beverage industry could consider PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage (PBJ) while those bearish on the food & beverage industry could consider PowerShares DB Agriculture Sht ETN (ADZ).

• Find other investment ideas from our top rated ETFs lists.

For more information on Sara Lee Corporation click any of the following:

• Sara Lee Corporation Stock Price

• Sara Lee Corporation Analyst Ratings

• Sara Lee Corporation Key Stats & Profile

• Sara Lee Corporation Earnings

• Sara Lee Corporation Ratio Comparison

• Sara Lee Corporation Growth Rates

• Sara Lee Corporation Balance Sheet

• Sara Lee Corporation Cash Flow

• Sara Lee Corporation Income Statement