People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what. With the Fool's free My Watchlist service, we have tens of thousands of people telling us the businesses that have, for whatever reason, piqued their interest.

The most-watched beverage stock is ...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is above the rest in terms of watch interest, the percentage of people keeping an eye on beverage stocks in general who are specifically watching each company. And for good reason. As CAPS player BuffettJunior1 wrote two weeks ago:

This is truly one of the greatest businesses ever. Absolutely everything is good about this company. Great fundamentals, awesome management and a superior product. This company will continue to grow even 50 years from now. I know one thing, when this stock starts trading at a good discount to its intrinsic value, I will load up on as many shares as I can.

Here are the rest of the top fifteen most-watched companies in the industry with their watch interest along with the stocks' CAPS rating to show the sentiment of our investing community.

 

Company

Market Cap (millions)

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Watch Interest

1

Coca-Cola

$157,226

****

42.2%

2

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP)

$110,535

*****

22.8%

3

Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM)

$1,211

*****

5.9%

4

Dr Pepper Snapple

$9,280

****

2.9%

5

Molson Coors

$8,343

*****

2.6%

6

Coca-Cola Bottling

$631

***

2.5%

7

Hansen Natural (Nasdaq: HANS)

$7,160

****

2.3%

8

Heckmann (NYSE: HEK)

$708

****

2.2%

9

Central European Distribution (Nasdaq: CEDC)

$832

****

2.1%

10

Anheuser-Busch InBev

$91,486

****

2.0%

11

Craft Brewers Alliance

$160

****

1.6%

12

Coca-Cola Enterprises

$9,422

****

1.3%

13

Jones Soda

$37

**

1.0%

14

China New Borun (NYSE: BORN)

$195

*

1.0%

15

Coca-Cola FEMSA

$17,300

*****

0.6%

Source: Motley Fool, Motley Fool CAPS.

Whether you're keeping an eye on the industry stalwarts like Coca-Cola or are watching an up-and-comer like Craft Brewers Alliance, it pays to watch. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click here to start now.