The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Declares $0.49 Quarterly Dividend

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of 0.485 per share on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

Coca-Cola has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Coca-Cola has a payout ratio of 65.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Coca-Cola to earn $2.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.5%.

Coca-Cola Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE KO opened at $64.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $278.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.59. 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 52 week low of $57.47 and a 52 week high of $73.53.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This trade represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KO. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.36.

About Coca-Cola

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.