The Coca-Cola Company (KO) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 14th

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.51 per share on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Coca-Cola’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49.

Coca-Cola has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 63 consecutive years. Coca-Cola has a dividend payout ratio of 60.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Coca-Cola to earn $3.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.8%.

Coca-Cola Stock Performance

Shares of KO stock opened at $71.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.71 and a 200 day moving average of $66.44. Coca-Cola has a 52 week low of $57.93 and a 52 week high of $73.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.59% and a return on equity of 45.37%. As a group, research analysts expect that Coca-Cola will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KO has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Coca-Cola from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Coca-Cola from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.82.

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.