In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $69.12, marking a -1.13% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.19% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.66%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.03%.
The world's largest beverage maker's shares have seen a decrease of 0.77% over the last month, surpassing the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.23% and falling behind the S&P 500's gain of 0.54%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Coca-Cola in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.56, signifying a 1.82% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $12.07 billion, up 4.53% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $2.98 per share and a revenue of $48.33 billion, signifying shifts of +3.47% and 0%, respectively, from the last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% lower. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In the context of valuation, Coca-Cola is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 21.71. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 16.78 of its industry.
One should further note that KO currently holds a PEG ratio of 3.6. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Beverages - Soft drinks industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.03.
The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 207, this industry ranks in the bottom 16% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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CocaCola Company (The) (KO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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