CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Announces $0.51 Quarterly Dividend

CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 17th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of 0.51 per share on Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%.

CocaCola has a dividend payout ratio of 63.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CocaCola to earn $3.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.9%.

CocaCola Price Performance

KO stock traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.63. 20,356,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,379,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.96. CocaCola has a 12 month low of $60.62 and a 12 month high of $74.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.45.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.23 billion. CocaCola had a return on equity of 45.49% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CocaCola will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on KO shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on CocaCola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CocaCola from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of CocaCola to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at CocaCola

In other news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $6,391,355.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 205,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,287.99. This represents a 30.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beatriz R. Perez sold 60,326 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.87, for a total value of $4,335,629.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 187,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,491,148.92. This trade represents a 24.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 415,387 shares of company stock valued at $29,923,985. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CocaCola

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KO. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 39,072 shares of the company's stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

About CocaCola

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.

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