Britney Spears opened the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. Most critics received her well, and her video "Piece of Me" won three Moonman trophies. She seems to be finally making a comeback from her previous problems.

Because Spears is connected to and the celebrity spokesperson for several publicly traded companies, Stockpickr has reviewed those companies and compiled an index of stocks associated with Spears.

Speaking of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV is owned by Viacom (VIA) (VIA.B), the entertainment conglomerate. In addition, Spears starred in the movie Crossroads, distributed by Paramount Pictures, which is also owned by Viacom. The company just announced that it will launch its first high-definition cable channel in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, with plans to expand throughout the rest of Europe and Latin America. The stock has a P/E of 8 and a PEG of 0.81.

Viacom is owned by Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates, a $20 billion New York-based investment company, ranked one of the 10 largest hedge funds in the world. Over the past 10 years, it has reportedly returned more than 28% annually on average. It also owns Tesoro (TSO), with a forward P/E of 10; Marriott International (MAR), with a P/E of 19; and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), with a P/E of 16.

Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) is another stock Spears is connected to, via her Curious and Fantasy perfumes. This beauty products company recently announced that it expects its 2009 net income to exceed analysts' expectations. The stock has a P/E of 30 and a PEG of 0.99.

Arden shows up in an interesting Stockpickr portfolio called Blue Fund Clothing and Accessory Sector Stocks, which screens companies based on social responsibility and political contributions. Other stocks in the portfolio include Dress Barn (DBRN), with a P/E of 13; Liz Claiborne (LIZ), with a forward P/E of 13; and Coach (COH), with a P/E of 14.

Pepsico (PEP) was the company that Spears signed a multimillion-dollar promotional deal with, to do television commercials and other promotions. The company has just been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index. The stock has a P/E of 20, a PEG of 1.71 and a yield of 2.5%.

Pepsico is owned by the Alpine Dynamic Dividend, which seeks high current income in a tax-optimized manner. It has had an average annual return of 6.46% over the last three years. Alpine also owns BHP Billiton (BHP), with a P/E of 10; Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), with a forward P/E of 7; and Temple-Inland (TIN), with a forward P/E of 20.

You can find more stocks associated with Britney Spears at Stockpickr.com. For a historic graph of the Britney Spears Stock Index, go to Stockerblog.com.

Posted on Sept. 11, 2008