Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $62.03 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.29% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.44% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 5.21%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest beverage maker had gained 3.57% over the past month. This has outpaced the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 2.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.28% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Coca-Cola as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be April 24, 2023. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.64, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $10.85 billion, up 3.39% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.60 per share and revenue of $44.82 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.84% and +4.21%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Coca-Cola. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Coca-Cola is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.
Looking at its valuation, Coca-Cola is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 23.81. This valuation marks a no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.81.
It is also worth noting that KO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.58. 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 industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.94 as of yesterday's close.
The Beverages - Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 77, which puts it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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