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Coca-Cola (KO) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) closed at $61.97, marking a +0.44% move from the previous day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.6% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.86%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 1.08%.

Heading into today, shares of the world's largest beverage maker had lost 0.37% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.46% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 3.15% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Coca-Cola in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.80, up 2.56% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $11.88 billion, indicating a 0.75% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

KO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.82 per share and revenue of $45.81 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.83% and +0.13%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.25% higher. Coca-Cola is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Coca-Cola is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.88. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 19.28 for its industry.

Also, we should mention that KO has a PEG ratio of 3.48. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Beverages - Soft drinks stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.79 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 150, placing it within the bottom 41% of over 250 industries.

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.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


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