The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.60.

KO has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE KO opened at $61.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $265.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Coca-Cola has a 12-month low of $57.93 and a 12-month high of $73.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.52.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $11.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. The trade was a 22.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Mount Lucas Management LP purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Coca-Cola Company Profile

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.