Soft Drink Companies

Today I'm comparing what I consider to be the top three soft drink companies -- Coca-Cola Co, Pepsico, and Dr Pepper Snapple. I've made the conscious decision not to include Monster Inc in this comparison but others may want to look at this company if they consider it to be a competitor of the "Big Three". Personally I consider it one of the high energy drink companies and not part of the mainstream soft drink market. Others may differ.

As for these "Big Three" soft drink companies, any comparison must include both an understanding of the product mix as well as the area of distribution. Coca-Cola is by far the largest world wide distributor of nonalcoholic soft drinks among any of the soft drink companies. Pepsico, while the second largest distributor of soft drinks in the world, makes a large potion of it profits from its snack food business. In fact, the snack food portion of its  business is currently growing faster than its soft drink business. Dr Pepper Snapple is a pure soft drink company and is a tough competitor for Coca-Cola but its distribution is limited primarily to North America and its product line is dominated by carbonated soft drinks.

When comparing similar companies I often like to lay out the information in a side by side comparison to see what interesting information I can discover. When I do this I push away all the opinions and simply look at the few fundamentals I'm interested in for insight. Next I look at the stock chart of each of the companies and see what insight I can gather from the price action and the momentum indicators I follow (see the hot spots in the company descriptions). This process provides me with a simple and clear comparison among the companies and I get to accurately see just how they stack up against one another. In the past I've found this to be a very useful exercise. 

Coca-Cola

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Pepsico

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Dr Pepper Snapple

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11 June 2014
Price $40.87
1yr Target $44.59
Analysts 20
1yr Cap Gain 9.10%
Dividend $1.22
Yield 2.98%
1yr Tot Return 12.08%
3yr EarnGR -9.02%
5yr EarnGR 8.90%
3yr DivGR 8.28%
5yr DivGR 8.06%
Payout Ratio 65%
Beta .48
EPS (ttm) $1.88
EPS next yr $2.24
P/E 21.85
PEG 3.26
Debt/Equity 1.18
ROA 9.40%
ROE 26.00%

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11 June 2014
Price $87.78
1yr Target $93.17
Analysts 18
1yr Cap Gain 6.14%
Dividend $2.62
Yield 2.98%
1yr Tot Return 9.12%
3yr EarnGR 3.34%
5yr EarnGR 6.11%
3yr DivGR 5.76%
5yr DivGR 6.30%
Payout Ratio 59%
Beta .39
EPS (ttm) $4.42
EPS next yr $4.89
P/E 20.00
PEG 2.78
Debt/Equity 1.41
ROA 8.90%
ROE 29.90%

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11 June 2014
Price $58.22
1yr Target $56.66
Analysts 14
1yr Cap Gain -2.68%
Dividend $1.64
Yield 2.81%
1yr Tot Return 0.13%
3yr EarnGR 11.88%
5yr EarnGR N/A
3yr DivGR 18.88%
5yr DivGR N/A
Payout Ratio 50%
Beta .15
EPS (ttm) $3.32
EPS next yr $3.68
P/E 17.60
PEG 2.44
Debt/Equity 1.20
ROA 8.10%
ROE 29.50%

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The Coca-Cola Company (KO), a beverage company, engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company primarily offers sparkling beverages and still beverages. Its sparkling beverages include nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverages with carbonation, such as carbonated energy drinks, and carbonated waters and flavored waters. The company’s still beverages comprise nonalcoholic beverages without carbonation, including noncarbonated waters, flavored and enhanced waters, noncarbonated energy drinks, juices and juice drinks, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, and sports drinks. It also provides flavoring ingredients, sweeteners, powders for purified water products, beverage ingredients, and fountain syrups. The Coca-Cola Company sells its products primarily under the Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade, Aquarius, Dasani, Glacéau Vitaminwater, Georgia, Simply, Del Valle, Ayataka, and I Lohas brand names. The company offers its beverage products through a network of company-owned or controlled bottling and distribution operators, as well as through independently owned bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. The Coca-Cola Company was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. (Daily Chart) (Weekly Chart)

PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) operates as a food and beverage company worldwide. The company’s PepsiCo Americas Foods division offers Lay’s and Ruffles potato chips, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, branded dips, and Fritos corn and Santitas tortilla chips; Quaker oatmeal, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker grits, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Life cereal, and Quaker rice cakes; Rice-A-Roni, Near East, and Pasta Roni side dishes; Quaker-brand cereals and snacks; and snack foods under Marias Gamesa, Cheetos, Doritos, Ruffles, Emperador, Saladitas, Elma Chips, Rosquinhas Mabel, Sabritas, and Tostitos brands. Its PepsiCo Americas Beverages division provides beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Diet Pepsi, Aquafina, 7UP, Diet Mountain Dew, Tropicana Pure Premium, Sierra Mist, and Mirinda brands; and ready-to-drink tea and coffee products. The company’s PepsiCo Europe division offers snacks under Lay’s, Walkers, Doritos, Cheetos, and Ruffles brands, as well as Quaker-brand cereals and snacks; beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Pepsi Max, 7UP, Diet Pepsi, and Tropicana brands; ready-to-drink tea products; and dairy products under Domik v Derevne, Chudo, and Agusha brands. Its PepsiCo Asia, Middle East, and Africa division provides snack foods under Lay’s, Chipsy, Kurkure, Doritos, Cheetos, and Smith’s brands; cereals and snacks under the Quaker name; beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under Pepsi, Mirinda, 7UP, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, and Tropicana brands; and ready-to-drink tea products. The company serves wholesale and foodservice distributors, grocery and convenience stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, and authorized independent bottlers through direct-store-delivery systems, customer warehouses, and distributor networks. PepsiCo, Inc. was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York. (Daily Chart) (Weekly Chart)

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (DPS) operates as a brand owner, manufacturer, and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The company operates in three segments: Beverage Concentrates, Packaged Beverages, and Latin America Beverages. It offers a portfolio of flavored (non-cola) carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) and non-carbonated beverages (NCBs), including ready-to-drink teas, juices, juice drinks, mixers, and water. The company’s brand portfolio includes CSD brands, such as Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, 7UP, Squirt, Crush, A&W, Peñafiel, Sunkist soda, Schweppes, and Sun Drop; and NCB brands comprising Snapple, Hawaiian Punch, Mott’s, Clamato, Mr & Mrs T mixers, and Rose’s. It sells its products primarily to bottlers, distributors, and retailers. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas. (Daily Chart) (Weekly Chart)