The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,660,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the October 31st total of 30,820,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

Shares of KO traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,870,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,602,822. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Coca-Cola has a fifty-two week low of $57.47 and a fifty-two week high of $73.53.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.45% and a return on equity of 44.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Coca-Cola will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Coca-Cola’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

In other Coca-Cola news, CEO James Quincey sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total transaction of $6,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 342,546 shares in the company, valued at $21,933,220.38. This represents a 22.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HBW Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 93,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,724,000 after buying an additional 47,023 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Coca-Cola during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Coca-Cola by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Coca-Cola to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cfra reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Coca-Cola in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.14.

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.