Head to Head Contrast: Vita Coco (NASDAQ:COCO) and PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP)

PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) and Vita Coco (NASDAQ:COCO) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares PepsiCo and Vita Coco”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PepsiCo	$98.24 billion	1.98	$8.24 billion	$7.96	17.89
Vita Coco	$609.78 million	6.13	$71.32 million	$1.99	32.90

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.1% of PepsiCo shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of Vita Coco shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of PepsiCo shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of Vita Coco shares are held 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for PepsiCo and Vita Coco, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PepsiCo	1	14	4	1	2.25
Vita Coco	0	4	8	0	2.67

PepsiCo currently has a consensus target price of $143.28, suggesting a potential upside of 0.60%. Vita Coco has a consensus target price of $74.12, suggesting a potential upside of 13.22%. Given Vita Coco’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Vita Coco is more favorable than PepsiCo.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PepsiCo	11.09%	53.08%	10.42%
Vita Coco	15.70%	31.84%	21.72%

Risk & Volatility

PepsiCo has a beta of 0.31, suggesting that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vita Coco has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vita Coco beats PepsiCo on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Vita Coco

The Vita Coco Company, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes coconut water products under the Vita Coco brand name in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers coconut oil and coconut milk; juice; Runa, a plant-based energy drink; packaged water under the Ever & Ever brand name; and PWR LIFT, a protein-infused fitness drink. It also provides private label coconut water and oil to retailers. It distributes its products through club, food, drug, mass, convenience, e-commerce, and foodservice channels. The company was formerly known as All Market Inc. and changed its name to The Vita Coco Company, Inc. in September 2021.The Vita Coco Company, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in New York, New York.