Beverage company stocks mixed in 3Q

Among the biggest gainers was Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. Its shares advanced 17 percent in the period, while Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. added 16 percent.

Investors are awaiting an announcement of cost cuts at PepsiCo, the nation's second-biggest beverage maker after Coke. At the end of the second quarter, PepsiCo said it would announce plans for a "meaningful" cost-cutting program to save on manufacturing, logistics and delivery at the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, meanwhile, will replace Wm Wrigley Jr Co. on the Standard & Poor's 500 later this week, since Wrigley is being bought by Mars. The company signed a deal earlier this month with bottler PepsiAmericas that widens its distribution.

Other beverage makers saw slight drops in their stocks during the third quarter, as consumers spent less and commodity costs rose.

The Coca-Cola Co. fell 1.9 percent while its biggest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises shed 7 percent.

Shares of PepsiCo's biggest bottler, Pepsi Bottling Group, declined by less than 1 percent in the quarter.