In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $61.59, marking a -1.11% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.84%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.38%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.38%.
Heading into today, shares of the world’s largest beverage maker had gained 4.11% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Staples sector’s loss of 0.26% and the S&P 500’s loss of 1.96% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Coca-Cola as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Coca-Cola is projected to report earnings of $0.57 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 3.64%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $9.98 billion, up 10.67% from the year-ago period.
KO’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.46 per share and revenue of $42.01 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +6.03% and +8.68%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.18% higher within the past month. Coca-Cola is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Looking at its valuation, Coca-Cola is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.34. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 22.88, which means Coca-Cola is trading at a premium to the group.
We can also see that KO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.15. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company’s expected earnings growth rate. The Beverages – Soft drinks industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.02 as of yesterday’s close.
The Beverages – Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 94, which puts it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow KO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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