Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev (
ABV) 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, Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev rose 77 cents (2%) to $39.32 on light volume. Throughout the day, 1.5 million shares of Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 2.9 million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $38.78-$39.68 after having opened the day at $38.98 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $38.55. Other companies within the Food & Beverage industry that increased today were:
Tianli Agritech (
OINK), up 9%,
Jones Soda Company (
JSDA), up 7.3%,
Key Technology (
KTEC), up 6%, and
SodaStream International (
SODA), up 4.6%.
Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev engages in the production, distribution, and sale of beer, draft beer, carbonated soft drinks, malt, and other non-alcoholic and non-carbonated products in the Americas. It also sells bottled water, isotonics, and ready-to-drink teas. Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev has a market cap of $124.19 billion and is part of the
consumer goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 103.6, above the average food & beverage industry P/E ratio of 26.1 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 6.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Currently there are three analysts that rate Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and three rate it a hold.
TheStreet Ratings rates Companhia de Bebidas das Americas Ambev as a
buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value.
On the negative front,
Central European Distribution (
CEDC), down 3.1%,
Inventure Foods (
SNAK), down 2.9%,
S&W Seed Company (
SANW), down 2.8%, and
Leading Brands (
LBIX), down 2.1%, were all laggards within the food & beverage industry with
Hillshire Brands (
HSH) being today's food & beverage industry laggard.
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).
