In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $46.49, marking a -0.39% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.16%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.12%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.33%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the world’s largest beverage maker had lost 10.01% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Consumer Staples sector’s loss of 10.8% and the S&P 500’s loss of 10.5% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from KO as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.44, down 8.33% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.49 billion, up 5.85% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.04 per share and revenue of $36.57 billion, which would represent changes of -3.32% and -0.07%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for KO. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 9.13% lower. KO is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, KO is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.84. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.85, so we one might conclude that KO is trading at a premium comparatively.
