In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $46.64, marking a -0.62% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 2.48%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.83%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 3.04%.
Coming into today, shares of the world’s largest beverage maker had lost 5.34% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector lost 8.72%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.82%.
KO will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 15, 2019. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.42, up 7.69% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $7.06 billion, down 6.07% from the year-ago period.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for KO. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. KO is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, KO is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.28. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 18.44.
Also, we should mention that KO has a PEG ratio of 2.9. 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. KO’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.86 as of yesterday’s close.
The Beverages – Soft drinks industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 194, putting it in the bottom 24% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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