Contrasting National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) and PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP)

National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) and PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares National Beverage and PepsiCo”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Beverage	$1.20 billion	2.59	$186.82 million	$2.01	16.55
PepsiCo	$93.93 billion	2.23	$8.24 billion	$6.00	25.51

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Beverage	15.71%	36.00%	25.49%
PepsiCo	8.77%	57.92%	10.62%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for National Beverage and PepsiCo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Beverage	2	0	0	0	1.00
PepsiCo	1	11	8	0	2.35

National Beverage currently has a consensus target price of $35.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.23%. PepsiCo has a consensus target price of $169.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.43%. Given PepsiCo’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PepsiCo is more favorable than National Beverage.

Volatility and Risk

National Beverage has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PepsiCo has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its share price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

24.0% of National Beverage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.1% of PepsiCo shares are owned by institutional investors. 74.7% of National Beverage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of PepsiCo shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

PepsiCo beats National Beverage on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Beverage

National Beverage Corp., through its subsidiaries, develops, produces, markets, and sells a portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks, and carbonated soft drinks primarily in the United States and Canada. The company's Power+ brand portfolio offers sparkling water products under the LaCroix, LaCroix Cúrate, and LaCroix NiCola; non-carbonated flavored water under the Clear Fruit; energy drink and shots under the Rip It; juice and juice-based products under Everfresh, Everfresh Premier Varietals, and Mr. Pure; and carbonated soft drinks under Shasta and Faygo brands. It serves retailers, as well as various smaller up-and-down-the-street accounts through the take-home, convenience, and food-service distribution channels. National Beverage Corp. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo, Inc. engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of various beverages and convenient foods worldwide. The company operates through seven segments: Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; PepsiCo Beverages North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand and China Region. It provides dips, cheese-flavored snacks, and spreads, as well as corn, potato, and tortilla chips; cereals, rice, pasta, mixes and syrups, granola bars, grits, oatmeal, rice cakes, and side dishes; beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods; ready-to-drink tea, coffee, and juices; dairy products; and sparkling water makers and related products, as well as distributes alcoholic beverages under Hard MTN Dew brand. The company offers its products primarily under the Lay’s, Doritos, Fritos, Tostitos, BaiCaoWei, Cheetos, Cap’n Crunch, Life, Pearl Milling Company, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, Rice-A-Roni, Aquafina, Bubly, Emperador, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade Zero, Crush, Propel, Dr Pepper, Schweppes, Marias Gamesa, Ruffles, Sabritas, Saladitas, Tostitos, 7UP, Diet 7UP, H2oh!, Manzanita Sol, Mirinda, Pepsi Black, Pepsi Max, San Carlos, Toddy, Walkers, Chipsy, Kurkure, Sasko, Spekko, White Star, Smith’s, Sting, SodaStream, Lubimyj Sad, Agusha, Chudo, Domik v Derevne, Lipton, and other brands. It serves wholesale and other distributors, foodservice customers, grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores, discount/dollar stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, hard discounters, e-commerce retailers and authorized independent bottlers, and others through a network of direct-store-delivery, customer warehouse, and distributor networks, as well as directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms and retailers. The company was founded in 1898 and is based in Purchase, New York.