PepsiCo Inc (PEP): Today's Featured Food & Beverage Winner

PepsiCo (PEP) pushed the Food & Beverage industry higher today making it today's featured food & beverage winner. The industry as a whole closed the day up 3%. By the end of trading, PepsiCo rose $1.06 (1.5%) to $70.66 on average volume. Throughout the day, 7.4 million shares of PepsiCo exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of seven million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $69.81-$70.66 after having opened the day at $69.96 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $69.60. Other companies within the Food & Beverage industry that increased today were: Constellation Brands (STZ), up 24.4%, Constellation Brands (STZ.B), up 24.3%, Le Gaga Holdings (GAGA), up 15.6%, and China Marine Food Group (CMFO), up 13.5%.

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PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of snacks, carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, dairy products, and other foods worldwide. PepsiCo has a market cap of $109.09 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 17.3, equal to the average food & beverage industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 4.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday. Currently there are 11 analysts that rate PepsiCo a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and four rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates PepsiCo as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity, reasonable valuation levels and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full PepsiCo Ratings Report.

• 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 PepsiCo Inc click any of the following:

• PepsiCo Inc Stock Price

• PepsiCo Inc Analyst Ratings

• PepsiCo Inc Key Stats & Profile

• PepsiCo Inc Earnings

• PepsiCo Inc Ratio Comparison

• PepsiCo Inc Growth Rates

• PepsiCo Inc Balance Sheet

• PepsiCo Inc Cash Flow

• PepsiCo Inc Income Statement