Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Stock Price Up 1.9% After Dividend Announcement

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s share price was up 1.9% during trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $71.52 and last traded at $71.38. Approximately 5,437,726 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 16,319,519 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.04.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. 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. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on KO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $307.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.42.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Coca-Cola

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 399,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,716,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 7,792.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,744,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,202 shares during the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 2.8% in the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 21,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 110,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,970,000 after acquiring an additional 8,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Coca-Cola by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Coca-Cola

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.