Consumer Non-Cyclicals

Food and Beverage Production

51 investable US stocks · data to Saturday, October 24, 2026

Acquirer's Multiple percentile today33rd percentile

Cheaper than in 77% of quarters since 1999Its usual range since 1999 is the 30th to 52nd percentile (the middle 80% of quarters), with a median of the 41st. Lower is cheaper: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the investable US market; the 50th is the middle.

Is it cheap because returns are depressed?

The industry is cheap against its own past, and returns on assets are in their usual range, so the discount isn't explained by weaker returns. Free cash flow yield is in its usual range. A low multiple can be warranted when returns on assets are low, and a high one when they are high, so the multiple reads best next to returns and free cash flow, each against the industry's own history.

Over- or under-earning?

Earning about normally

Return on assets ranks at the 54th percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 68th and a low of the 45th since 1999. That is close to its usual level, so today's multiple is about right on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely rise: from the 33rd percentile today (cheaper than 67% of investable US stocks) to around the 41st (cheaper than 59% of investable US stocks), judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 59th (dearer than 59% of investable US stocks).

Percentile	Today	Returns normal	Returns at low
Return on assets (higher is better)	54th	68th (median)	45th (low)
Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper)	33rd	41st	59th

Food and Beverage Production's return on assets as a percentile, quarterly since 1999. The shaded band is its usual range; the dashed line its median.

Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (88 quarters) and of their low (3). The past, not a forecast.

Against its own history

Each chart is the industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks, quarterly since 1999. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better. The shaded band is its usual range (the middle 80% of quarters); the dashed line is its long-run median; the dot is today. Green shading marks the better end of each scale and red the worse, and today's dot takes the colour of where it sits.

Acquirer's MultipleCheaper than usualPercentile of enterprise value ÷ operating income: lower is cheaper. Cheaper than in 77% of quarters since 1999.

Free cash flow yieldUsual rangePercentile of free cash flow yield: higher is a bigger yield. Higher than in 58% of quarters since 1999.

Shareholder yieldHigher than usualDividends plus buybacks, as a percentile: higher is a bigger yield. Higher than in 84% of quarters since 1999.

Dividend yieldNear its highestPercentile of dividend yield: higher is a bigger yield. Higher than in 90% of quarters since 1999.

Return on assets, 5-yrUsual rangePercentile of five-year return on assets: higher is better. Lower than in 56% of quarters since 1999.

Debt to equityMost debt on recordPercentile of debt to equity: lower is less debt. More indebted than in 90% of quarters since 1999.

Company sizeNear its smallestPercentile of market cap: higher is larger. Smaller than in 100% of quarters since 1999.

Food and Beverage Production stocks in the screens today

In today's screens, cheapest first. ● marks one of a screen's 30 tracked picks.

Stock	Screen	Acquirer's Multiple	FCF yield	Shareholder yield

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Other Consumer Non-Cyclicals industries

Personal Professional Services cheaper than 89%Food and Beverage Retail cheaper than 61%Household Products cheaper than 59%Personal Care and Cleaning Products dearer than 50%Agriculture dearer than 62%General Merchandise Retail dearer than 82%

Quarterly since 1999 from point-in-time data. Each quarter, every investable US stock (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no OTC, ADRs or MLPs) is placed in a percentile (0-100) against all the others on each metric. An industry's value is the median percentile of its stocks. Industries follow FactSet's RBICS classification. Percentiles describe the past; they are not investment advice or a forecast.