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

Coca-Cola (KO) closed the most recent trading day at $45.73, moving -1.07% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.09%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.16%.

Coming into today, shares of the world's largest beverage maker had lost 7.17% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 0.45%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.35%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from KO as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.47, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.90 billion, up 3.6% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.09 per share and revenue of $34.81 billion, which would represent changes of +0.48% and +9.29%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for KO. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. 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 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 5.24% lower. KO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Digging into valuation, KO currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 22.09. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 21.97, so we one might conclude that KO is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can also see that KO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.11. 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 2.07 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 195, which puts it in the bottom 24% 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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