3 Highly Ranked Consumer Food & Beverage Stocks to Consider: PPC, PRMB, PRRFY

Fed chair Jerome Powell helped reassure markets yesterday, stating the current path of monetary policy shouldn’t be affected despite rising tariff concerns.That said, Powell acknowledged that President Trump's tariff policies are contributing to inflation and could delay progress in reducing it. Keeping this in mind, investors may still be eying defensive positions in the portfolio, with the consumer staples sector starting to stand out.Notably, several consumer food and beverage stocks have made their way onto the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) list and have hovered near 52-week peaks amid recent market volatility. Pilgrim’s Pride – PPCCarving out a niche in the prepared foods category, Pilgrim’s Pride PPC stock is up +15% in 2025 and has now soared +130% in the last two years. Keeping investors engaged is that despite the extensive rally, Pilgrim’s stock trades at just 9.5X forward earnings and has continued to expand internationally as a provider of frozen, fresh, and value-added chicken products.  In addition to its strong buy rating, PPC checks an overall “A” VGM Zacks Style Scores grade for the combination of Value, Growth, and Momentum.Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Primo Brands Corporation – PRMBFocusing on healthy hydration, Primo Brands Corporation PRMB has a portfolio of packaged branded beverages that are distributed across more than 200,000 retail outlets. As a beverage distributor in every state and Canada, the company’s brands include Poland Spring, Pure Life, Saratoga, and Mountain Valley among others.Primo Brands stock is up +4% year to date and has also soared over +100% in the last two years. Trading just over $30, PRMB shares are at a reasonable 20.4X forward earnings multiple and offer a respectable 1.25% annual dividend.More intriguing, is that earnings estimate revisions have spiked over the last 60 days with Primo Brands expected to post high double-digit EPS growth in fiscal 2025 and FY26.Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Premier Foods – PRRFYRounding out the list is Premier Foods PRRFY, a distributor of food and beverage products in the United Kingdom and other European countries. At $12 a share, the risk to reward appears to be favorable with PRRFY trading at 13.3X forward earnings. This is a pleasant discount to its Zacks Food-Miscellaneous Industry average of 16.1X with the S&P 500 at 21.4X.Expecting 7% EPS growth in FY25 and FY26, Premier Foods stock offers a modest 0.79% annual dividend. Plus, EPS estimates for FY25 and FY26 are slightly up in the last 30 days with PRRFY rising +5% YTD and sitting on +50% gains over the last two years.  Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Conclusion & Final Thoughts During an economic downturn, the demand for food, beverages, and other essential products and services remains constant or can even see an uptick while other areas of the economy experience a slowdown. While Jerome Powell’s rhetoric was reassuring, more market volatility could still be ahead due to tariff concerns which makes these top consumer food and beverage stocks very attractive at the moment.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PPC): Free Stock Analysis Report Premier Foods PLC. (PRRFY): Free Stock Analysis Report Primo Brands Corporation (PRMB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks