Head-To-Head Contrast: Reed’s (NYSE:REED) versus PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP)

Reed’s (NYSE:REED – Get Rating) and PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP – Get Rating) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

35.8% of Reed’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of PepsiCo shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.9% of Reed’s shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of PepsiCo shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Reed’s has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PepsiCo has a beta of 0.55, indicating that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Reed’s and PepsiCo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Reed’s	N/A	N/A	N/A
PepsiCo	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Reed’s and PepsiCo, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Reed’s	0	0	0	0	N/A
PepsiCo	0	0	0	0	N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Reed’s and PepsiCo’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Reed’s	$50.78 million	0.21	-$23.43 million	($9.00)	-0.44
PepsiCo	$86.39 billion	2.76	$8.83 billion	$6.41	27.04

PepsiCo has higher revenue and earnings than Reed’s. Reed’s is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PepsiCo, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

PepsiCo beats Reed’s on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Reed’s

(Get Rating)

Reed’s, Inc. engages in the manufacture and distribution of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages. Its product lines include Reed’s Ginger Brews, Virgil’s Root Beer, and Flying Caldron Butterscotch Beer. The company was founded by Christopher J. Reed in June 1987 and is headquartered in Norwalk, CT.

About PepsiCo

(Get Rating)

PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of beverages, food, and snacks. It operates through the following business segments: Frito-Lay North America (FLNA), Quaker Foods North America (QFNA), PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), Latin America (LatAm), Europe, Africa, Middle East, and South Asia (AMESA), and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, and China Region (APAC). The FLNA segment markets, distributes, and sells snack foods under the Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Fritos, Ruffles, and Santitas brands. The QFNA segment includes cereals, rice, and pasta under the Quaker, Pearl Milling Company, Quaker Chewy, Cap’n Crunch, Life, and Rice-A-Roni brands. The PBNA segment is composed of beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under various beverage brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Aquafina, Diet Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, and Mug. The LatAm segment covers beverage, food, and snack businesses in the Latin American region. The Europe segment includes beverage, food, and snack goods in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. The AMESA segment deals with all beverage and convenient food businesses in