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Coca-Cola (KO) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) closed at $59.51, marking a -0.52% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.3%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.71%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.84%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest beverage maker had lost 1.35% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 0.09% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 2% in that time.

Coca-Cola will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Coca-Cola to post earnings of $0.64 per share. This would mark no growth from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $10.8 billion, up 2.94% from the year-ago period.

KO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.59 per share and revenue of $44.67 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.44% and +3.87%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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 2% higher. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Digging into valuation, Coca-Cola currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 23.13. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.75.

Also, we should mention that KO has a PEG ratio of 3.48. 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. The Beverages - Soft drinks was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.98 at yesterday's closing price.

The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 44, which puts it in the top 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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