CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Coca-Cola has an average analyst recommendation of “Buy”, with all 15 covering analysts rating it a buy. The average 1-year price target is about $86.27.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.86 versus the $0.81 consensus and revenue of $12.47 billion, both ahead of expectations. Revenue rose 11.4% year over year.
• Coca-Cola also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, equal to $2.12 annually and a 2.6% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold shares recently, including CEO James Quincey and EVP Nancy Quan.

Shares of CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.2667.

KO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of CocaCola from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $87.00 price objective on shares of CocaCola in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of CocaCola from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th.

CocaCola Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:KO opened at $80.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $77.00 and its 200 day moving average is $74.23. CocaCola has a 12 month low of $65.35 and a 12 month high of $82.00.

CocaCola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.24 billion. CocaCola had a net margin of 27.80% and a return on equity of 40.55%. CocaCola's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.240-3.270 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

CocaCola Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. CocaCola's payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 250,688 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.14, for a total value of $19,839,448.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 278,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,013,186.70. The trade was a 47.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nancy Quan sold 23,556 shares of CocaCola stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.50, for a total transaction of $1,872,702.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,754,735. This represents a 9.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 755,101 shares of company stock worth $59,988,566 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 438.8% during the 4th quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CocaCola during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of CocaCola by 1,081.8% during the 4th quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 390 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CocaCola Company Profile

The Coca‑Cola Company NYSE: KO is a global beverage manufacturer, marketer and distributor best known for its flagship Coca‑Cola soda. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the company develops and sells concentrates, syrups and finished beverages across a broad portfolio of brands. Its product range spans sparkling soft drinks, bottled water, sports drinks, juices, ready‑to‑drink teas and coffees, and other still beverages, marketed under both global and regional brand names.

Coca‑Cola’s brand portfolio includes widely recognized names such as Coca‑Cola, Diet Coke, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid, Powerade and Dasani, and in recent years the company has expanded into the coffee and premium beverage categories through acquisitions such as Costa Coffee.

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