Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Upgraded to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $75.00 target price on the stock.

KO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.60.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE:KO opened at $61.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.61. Coca-Cola has a 1 year low of $57.93 and a 1 year high of $73.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.52.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.03. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 44.01% and a net margin of 22.45%. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the third quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Coca-Cola during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.