The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.51 Per Share

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49.

Coca-Cola has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Coca-Cola has a payout ratio of 60.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Coca-Cola to earn $3.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.8%.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KO traded up $1.33 on Friday, hitting $71.37. The company had a trading volume of 14,394,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,599,721. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Coca-Cola has a 52-week low of $57.93 and a 52-week high of $73.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.54 and a 200 day moving average of $66.41. The company has a market cap of $307.46 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 45.37% and a net margin of 22.59%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KO. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

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.