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Coca-Cola (KO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $55.55, moving -1.09% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.18% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the world's largest beverage maker had gained 2.61% over the past month. This has outpaced the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.83% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.43% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from KO as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect KO to post earnings of $0.55 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 30.95%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $9.4 billion, up 31.53% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.19 per share and revenue of $37.14 billion, which would represent changes of +12.31% and +12.51%, 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.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.27% higher. KO is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, KO is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.66. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 23.44, so we one might conclude that KO is trading at a premium comparatively.

Investors should also note that KO has a PEG ratio of 3.38 right now. 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 2.7 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 125, which puts it in the top 50% 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.

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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