Q1 Earnings Forecast for Coca-Cola Issued By Zacks Research

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Coca-Cola in a research report issued on Tuesday, May 13th. Zacks Research analyst R. Lohia now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.79 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.78. The consensus estimate for Coca-Cola's current full-year earnings is $2.96 per share.

A number of other analysts have also commented on KO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Coca-Cola from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Coca-Cola currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.59.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of Coca-Cola stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $71.76. 4,433,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,580,652. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $60.62 and a 52 week high of $74.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $70.86 and its 200-day moving average is $66.72. The stock has a market cap of $308.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.23 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KO. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 360.0% in the first quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 88,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total value of $6,391,355.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 19,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.56, for a total value of $1,344,732.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 462,407 shares of company stock worth $32,990,056. 0.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Coca-Cola's dividend payout ratio is presently 81.60%.

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.

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